| Title： |
Offshore Banking Act(1997.10.08) |
| Date： |
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Article 4
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An offshore banking branch may only conduct the following types of business:
1.Accepting foreign currency deposits from natural persons, juridical persons, government agencies and financialinstitutions
within or outside the territory of the R.O.C.;
2.Extending credit in foreign currency to natural persons, juridical persons, government agencies and financialinstitutions
within or outside the territory of the R.O.C.;
3.Selling foreign currency financial debentures or other certificates of debt issued by the head office to naturalpersons, juridical
persons, government agencies and financial institutions within or outside the territory of the R.O.C.;
4.Undertaking proprietary dealing, brokerage and agency activities of foreign currency securities for natural persons,juridical
persons, government agencies and financial institutions within or outside the territory of the R.O.C.
5.Conducting the issuance, advising and negotiation of letters of credit in foreign currency, and import/exportcollection for
natural persons, juridical persons, government agencies and financial institutions outside the territory of the R.O.C.;
6.Conducting foreign currency remittances and exchanges, foreign currency transactions, borrowing or lending offunds, and
buying or selling of foreign currency denominated securities, between the said offshore banking branch and other financial
institutions, and between the said offshore banking branch and natural persons, juridical persons, government agencies and
financial institutions outside the territory of the R.O.C.;
7.Underwriting securities issued outside the territory of the R.O.C.;
8.Book-keeping and managing for foreign currency loans extended outside the territory of the R.O.C.;
9.Conducting custody, agency and consultation businesses related to the businesses stipulated above for naturalpersons,
juridical persons, government agencies and financial institutions within or outside the territory of the R.O.C.; and
10.Other foreign currency businesses approved by the competent authorities.
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Article 5
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Unless otherwise provided in the Act, the conduction of the businesses specified in the preceding Article by an offshore
banking branch shall not be subject to the limitations of relevant Articles of the Statute Governing Foreign Exchange, the
Banking Law and the Law Governing the Central Bank of China.
The MOF, after consulting with the CBC, shall set regulations for offshore banking branches concerning: credit extension to
individual customer and other transactions restrictions, examinations by the competent authorities or other appropriate
institutions mandated thereby, the contents of the reports and means for submitting the reports regarding financial and business
conditions, the qualifications of managers, utilization of funds and risk management.
An offshore banking branch established pursuant to Article 3, Items 2 and 3 of this Act shall appropriate working capital for its
operations in the R.O.C. The minimum amount of the said working capital shall be stipulated by the MOF.
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Article 5-1
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Articles 32 to 33-2 of the Banking Law shall apply mutatis mutandis to credits extended to related parties by an
offshorebanking branch.
In the event of any violation of the preceding paragraph, the person responsible for such violation shall be punishable by
imprisonment of no more than three years or detention and/or a fine of One Million Eight Hundred Thousand New Taiwan
Dollars (NT$1,800,000).
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Article 13
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Income of offshore banking branches shall be exempt from business income tax; however, income of offshore banking
branches derived from credit extension to natural persons, juridical persons, government agencies and financial institutions
within the territory of the ROC shall be subject to taxation or exemptions as stipulated in the relevant income tax laws.
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Article 14
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Revenues of offshore banking branches shall be exempt from business tax; however, the business revenue of offshore banking
branches derived from services to natural persons, juridical persons, government agencies and financial institutions within the
territory of the R.O.C. shall be subject to taxation or exemptions as stipulated in relevant business tax laws.
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Article 16
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Interests paid by offshore banking branches to financial institutions, and natural persons, juridical persons and government
agencies outside the territory of the R.O.C. shall be exempt from withholding requirement on income tax.
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Article 22
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If an offshore banking branch commits any of the following acts, its responsible person shall be punishable by a fine of from
One Hundred Eighty Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NT$180,000) to one Million Eight Hundred Thousand New Taiwan
Dollars (NT$1,800,000):
1.Conducting any business not provided for in Article 4 of this Act,
2.Violating Articles 7 through 9 of this Act,
3.Failing to submit the reports required under Article 20 of this Act, or failing to provide the information concerningthe
business or financial conditions or other reports pursuant to the same Article,
4.Failing to pay the license fee pursuant to Article 21 of this Act.
In the cases where the violations continue even after the punishment, the competent authorities may impose an additional fine
of one to five times the prescribed amount. In addition, if the above deed is a serious one, the competent authority may impose
the following punishments:
1.suspension of the said offshore banking branch’s business operations for a specified period of time; or
2.revocation of the license of the said offshore banking branch.
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Article 22-1
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In the event of any violation of the regulations stipulated pursuant to Article 5, Section 2, the following punishments shall be
imposed:
1.A fine of from One Hundred Eighty Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NT$180,000) to One Million Eight HundredThousand
New Taiwan Dollars (NT$1,800,000) upon any violation of restrictions on single customer credit extensions related party
lending or other transaction restrictions;
2.A fine of from One Hundred Eighty Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NT$180,000) to One Million Eight HundredThousand
New Taiwan Dollars (NT$1,800,000) upon the concealment or destruction of related documents or upon reasonable lack of
response to questions from regulatory auditors or the competent authorities.
3.A fine of One Hundred Twenty Thousand New Taiwan Dollars (NT$120,000) to One Million Two HundredThousand New
Taiwan Dollars (NT$1,200,000) upon any violation of any limitation set by the competent authorities on the type and amount
of foreign currency securities invested by offshore banking branches.
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