Labor
1.Amendment to Company Act and Business Registration Act
On December 26, 2025, the President promulgated amendments to the Company Act and the Business Registration Act. It is added that, after applying for incorporation registration, a company shall attend labor rights training organized by government authorities or by non-profit organizations designated by such authorities. The central competent authority shall indicate on its information website whether a company has participated in labor rights training. This provision shall take effect six (6) months after its promulgation.
Reported by: David Tsai / Julia Kuo
National Health Insurance
2.National Health Insurance Data Management Act
On 19 December 2025, the President announced the National Health Insurance Data Management Act. We summarize below:
(1) As procedural supervisory mechanism, the competent authority shall establish the Committee of Health Insurance Data to assist and provide recommendations on management, supervision, disputes and other matters regarding the use of health insurance data for non-specific purposes;
(2) The competent authority and the insurer shall establish a health insurance database, and the insurer will transmit the anonymized health insurance data to the competent authority. The competent authority shall designate a dedicated unit and responsible personnel to manage the database and assess regularly or irregularly its management and use;
(3) The applicants applying for the use of health insurance data for non-specific purposes are limited to governmental institutions, independent administrative institutions, or medical institutions, academic institutions, universities established within the Republic of China (Taiwan), as well as universities, juristic persons and institutions delegated by governmental institutions. Relevant written documents shall be submitted to the competent authority and the insurer for approval;
(4) Persons whose health insurance data are used may fill out an application form to request the insurer to cease all or part of their health insurance data’s use for non-specific purposes. The insurer shall record that the data cannot be used for non-specific purposes within thirty (30) days from the day following the application date; and
(5) For using health insurance data for non-specific purposes without approval from the competent authority or the insurer, a fine from NTD two (2) million to NTD ten (10) million may be imposed and application for use may be prohibited for one year.
Reported by: Stacy Lo / Linda Guo
Tax
3.Ruling on Value-added and Non-value-added Business Tax Act and Income Tax Act
On 23 December 2025, the Ministry of Finance issued a ruling on Value-added and Non-value-added Business Tax Act and Income Tax Act. We summarize below:
(1) From 1 January 2026, business entities registered under Article 28-1 of the Value-added and Non-value-added Business Tax Act (including foreign platform operators and foreign non-platform electronic service providers) shall be the tax withholders under the Income Tax Act. They shall withhold the tax for the income payment, submit withholding (or non-withholding) tax statements to the competent tax authority and issue the same to taxpayers. A transitional period is provided until 30 June 2026, during which failure to withhold or report the tax in accordance with the above regulations shall not be subject to penalties.
(2) If a foreign platform operator provides advertising broadcasting services to overseas advertisers, and the viewers of the advertisements are domestic audiences who do not pay a fee, such services shall be deemed as service sold within Taiwan. The income derived therefrom is Taiwan-sourced income and shall be subject to profit-seeking enterprise income tax.
Reported by: Paul Hsu/ Alva Wu
Insurance
4.Announce the draft amendment to Employment Insurance Act for public consultation
On 17 December 2025, the Ministry of Labor announced the draft amendment to “Employment Insurance Act.” We summarize below:
(1) To stipulate the supervisory scope of the Employment Insurance (hereinafter referred to as “the Insurance”), the applicable regulations, and the name of the competent supervisory authority;
(2) To stipulate that any person who is dissatisfied with a determination made under the Insurance shall apply for review within sixty (60) days from the day following the service of the administrative disposition. The review decision shall be deemed equivalent to a decision on an administrative appeal, and any further dissatisfaction may be brought directly into the administrative court;
(3) To revised the organizational name of the insurer under the Insurance and to stipulate the unit responsible for the execution of its operations;
(4) To delete the provision setting sixty-five years of age as the upper limit for the insured age;
(5) To shorten the waiting period for unemployment benefits to seven (7) days and to adjust the relevant time periods for handling unemployment recognition;
(6) To raise the upper limit of the appropriation ratio for funds allocated to employment promotion measures to twenty percent of the annual insurance premiums receivable;
(7) To stipulate the circumstances under which both parents raising the same child may receive parental leave allowance for up to seven (7) months;
(8) To stipulate the obligation of relevant authorities (institutions) to provide the data necessary for the administration of the Insurance;
(9) To delete the restriction on prohibiting the fund from investing in equity securities and derivative financial products; and
(10) To stipulate the reputational sanctions and their contents that the competent authority shall impose on any entity subject to an administrative fine
Reported by: David Tsai / Joe Liao
Anti-Money Laundering
5.Ruling Related to Regulations Governing Anti-Money Laundering Registration of Enterprises or Persons Providing Virtual Asset Services
On 30 December 2025, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) issued a ruling related to the Regulations Governing Anti-Money Laundering Registration of Enterprises or Persons Providing Virtual Asset Services. We summarize below:
(1) To specify the allocation ratio of the cold and hot wallets referred to in Paragraph 3, Article 26 of the “Regulations Governing Anti-Money Laundering Registration of Enterprises or Persons Providing Virtual Asset Services”, to adjust the calculation basis for the allocation ratio of the cold and hot wallets to either (i) the total market value of customers’ virtual assets under custody or (ii) the quantity of each customer’s individual virtual assets, and to expressly prescribe the corresponding cold and hot wallet ratios applicable to market value and to quantity respectively; and
(2) To provide the internationally recognized information security management system (“ISMS”) standards which the core systems of virtual asset custodians shall comply with.
Reported by: Stacy Lo / Linda Guo
Financials
6.Draft Directions Governing Limitations on Types and Amounts of the Securities in which a Commercial Bank May Invest
On 16 December 2025, the FSC announced the draft amendment to the “Directions Governing Limitations on Types and Amounts of the Securities in which a Commercial Bank May Invest” for public consultation. We summarize below:
(1) To stipulate that foreign-currency-denominated Islamic Fixed Income Securities (Sukuk) offered and issued within the territory of Taiwan by foreign issuers, and Exchange Traded Note issued by domestic securities firms are securities in which commercial banks may invest, and to prescribe the applicable investment limits therefor;
(2) To stipulate that any increase in net worth arising from a merger and capital increase of a commercial bank during a fiscal year may be included in the calculation base for investment limits, with the date of obtaining the capital verification report serving as the record date for calculation; and
(3) Where the government is the responsible person of a bank and concurrently serves as a director or supervisor of the securities issuer, the prohibition on investing in securities issued by interested parties shall be exempted.
Reported by: Stacy Lo / Zoe Chen
SITE/SICE
7.Matters to Be Complied With under the Ruling Issued pursuant to Article 8, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 7, Paragraph 2, and Article 10, Paragraph 1 of the Regulations Governing Securities Investment Trust Funds
On 16 December 2025, the FSC issued a ruling to amend the relevant matters regarding securities investment trust enterprises’ (SITE) offering of securities investment trust funds (SIT Funds) that invest in non-investment grade bonds and Rule 144A bonds (FSC Ruling). Accordingly, on 19 December 2025, the Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Association (SITCA) announced a ruling to notify its members of relevant matters to be complied. ” We summarize below:
(1) For SIT Funds that have already been established and intend to amend the trust deed in line with the FSC Ruling, if such amendment does not involve any change to the product positioning or the fundamental investment policies and strategies, a beneficiaries’ meeting may be exempted. However, a legal opinion shall be provided to explain that the amendment will not have any material impact on the beneficiaries, and an application for approval of the contract amendment shall be filed with the FSC.
(2) Where a SIT Fund invests in bonds that comply with Rule 144A of the U.S. securities regulations, the SITE shall fully evaluate the relevant risks and incorporate them into its internal control system. The prospectus and sales documents shall also provide specific explanations of the investment strategy and disclose the associated risks.
Reported by: Jeffrey Liu / Eden Hsieh
SITE/SICE
8.Amendment to the Rulings Regarding Paragraph 1, Article 7 of the Regulations Governing Responsible Persons and Associated Persons of Securities Investment Trust Enterprises and Paragraph 1, Article 6 of the Regulations Governing Responsible Persons and Associated Persons of Securities Investment Consulting Enterprises
On 30 December 2025, the FSC issued Jin-Guan-Zheng-Tou No. 1140385429 and No. 11403854291 to amend and replace previous rulings concerning the concurrent holding of positions at overseas institutions by personnel of SITEs and securities investment consulting enterprises, allowing the designated personnel as specified in the relevant provisions to concurrently hold positions at offshore fund institutions applying to the FSC for approval to establish global or regional fund service institutions in Taiwan.
Reported by: Jeffrey Liu / Alva Wu
Securities
9.Amendment to Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation Operating Rules on the Use of Domestic Securities by Overseas Chinese and Foreign Nationals as Collaterals for Offshore Investment Activities
On 22 December 2025, the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (“TWSE”) announced the amendment to the “Directions Governing Limitations on Types and Amounts of the Securities in which a Commercial Bank May Invest” (the “Directions”). We summarize below:
( 1)To stipulate the method for calculating fees related to the lending business of the TWSE, under which the market value of the collateral shall be calculated based on the closing price of the relevant day;
(2) To stipulate that where the pledgor and the pledgee are overseas Chinese or foreign nationals and use domestic securities as pledged assets for offshore investment activities, the qualification requirements set forth in Subparagraphs 1 and 2, Paragraph 1, Article 5 of the Directions shall apply;
(3) To stipulate that the pledgee shall designate a collateral custodian as either a primary custodian or a sub-custodian and open a custody book-entry account;
(4) To stipulate that where the pledgee is an overseas Chinese or foreign national and receives domestic securities as pledged assets for offshore investment activities, the pledgee’s eligible pledge-related book-entry transfer applications shall be restricted;
(5) To stipulate that a collateral custodian entrusted with the custody of pledged domestic securities shall establish a designated pledge account with the Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation;
(6) To stipulate the procedures to be handled by the collateral custodian in connection with the disposal of pledged assets; and
(7) To stipulate that where overseas Chinese or foreign nationals use domestic securities as pledged assets for offshore investment activities, the provisions for the use of domestic securities by overseas Chinese and foreign nationals as collateral for offshore investment activities shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Reported by: Stacy Lo / Zoe Chen
| Editors: Mike Lu (Partner) Stacy Lo (Partner) J effrey Liu (Partner) Kang-Shen Liu (Partner) David Tsai (Partner) Angela Lin (Partner) Paul Hsu (Partner) Alex Li (Partner) | Counselors: Echo Yeh Sue Su Jolene Wang (Lexcel Partners IP Firm) |
