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Provisions regarding securities brokers:
- The place of business of a securities broker shall include the following:
- A trading room for accepting orders for securities trades (including a trading counter for over-the-counter trading).
- A settlement counter.
- An area for account opening.
- A securities information reading room.
- An area for collection of proxy forms.
- A trading room exclusively for processing orders not made in person.
- Other business areas.
The sites for places of business referred to in (i) through (vi) of the preceding paragraph shall be limited to stand-alone structures, duplexes, connected structures, or adjacent independent structures joined by passageways built with approval from the building administration authority.
- Trading rooms shall be established within the confines of the place of business, and the floors on which the trading rooms are established shall have no partitioning walls except for support columns, elevators, and stairway exits.
- Trading rooms shall be equipped with the following:
- A market information display system or a trading information display system.
- A trading counter, with the following facilities and conditions:
- When two or more trading counters are set up on the same floor, there shall be no partitions between the counters, with the exception of support columns, elevators, or stairway exits.
- Telephones and auction equipment for use in authorized trading shall be installed.
- Over-the-counter trading and trading on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ("TWSE") centralized securities exchange market may be performed at the same counter.
- An announcement board for posting administrative orders issued by the competent authority, announcements by the TWSE, important information regarding securities firms' operations, and disclosure of information relating to ex-dividend and ex-rights by listed companies.
- Terminals for the Market Observation Post System (MOPS) shall be installed for the use of investors.
The facilities as in subparagraphs A, C, and D in the preceding paragraph may share the same information display equipment.
- If auxiliary trading information displays systems such as wall-mounted television displays or multi-function display systems are installed in operating areas other than the trading room, no authorized trading of securities may take place in any such operating area where such a system or display is installed.
- The settlement counter and the area for collection of proxy forms may be established at a different location than the trading room, and shall be prominently marked as such.
- All facilities of a securities broker's branch offices shall conform to the standards for the securities broker's head office.
- Computer facilities.
- The following shall apply to securities firms and branch offices:
- Prior to use, a newly established or relocated place of business shall be inspected by personnel dispatched from the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (TWSE) (to assure that furnishings are complete and ready for immediate use); amendment of registration shall be completed; and re-issuance of the permit and certificate of license, where required, shall also be completed.
- Prior to use of an expanded or downsized place of business, or of a trading room, settlement counter, the area for account opening, the securities information reading room, the area for collection of proxy forms, and the trading room exclusively for processing orders not made in person, a report shall be filed for TWSE approval, including a floor plan and photographs; if amendment registration or re-issuance of the permit and certificate of license is required, the relevant matters shall also be completed prior to use.
- Other operating areas:
- Prior to use, of an operating area for a consulting business, a floor plan and photographs (and, for the initial establishment of such operating area, a photocopy of the competent authority's letter of approval for concurrent operation of a consulting business or a photocopy of a permit and certificate of license for the consulting business) shall be submitted to the TWSE for approval. In addition, prior to use of the operating area, amendments to registration shall also be filed, and re-issuance of the permit and certificate of license, where required, shall be completed.
- A securities firm that operates trust-type wealth management business shall file for recordation and approval with the TWSE prior to using an operating area; the provision of the preceding item shall apply mutatis mutandis to on-site inspection, amendments to registration, or re-issuance of the permits and certificate of license under the present item.
- For other operating areas, amendments to registration shall be filed within 15 days after use of the area begins. Re-issuance of the permit and certificate of license, where required, shall also be completed, and computerized information facilities already installed may not be provided for the use of investors [prior to re-issuance].
A securities broker or its branch office shall notify the TWSE by letter when any alteration is made in the facilities or their use within the original place of business; with the exception of those not requiring amendment of registration or re-issuance of a permit and certificate of license, methods of handling for such shall be the same as in the preceding subparagraph.
- A securities firm may establish a securities information reading room (below, "reading room") in conformance with the following rules:
- The reading room shall be established within the securities broker's place of business.
- Within the reading room, the securities broker may not execute a contract for authorized trading of securities with a client, accept an order for a trade, carry out settlement of a securities trade, or engage in any other activity similar to securities firm business.
- A securities broker may not provide terminals for competitive bidding for use by clients within the reading room.
- A securities broker may not place restrictions on who may use the reading room or collect fees for its use.
- The TWSE may at any time dispatch personnel to inspect a securities broker's reading room, and the securities firm may not refuse or evade such inspection.
- The trading office specially set up for a securities broker to accept trading orders not made in person shall be equipped with computer facilities and telephones and auction equipment for use in authorized trading, and shall have access control in place.
- In addition to operating in conformance with the provisions of standards for places of business and facilities adopted by the Taiwan Futures Exchange and the Chinese National Futures Association, a securities firm that concurrently operates a futures business or a futures trading support business shall also observe the following regulations:
- Trading counter: A common trading counter may be used by a securities brokerage department and a futures department. Notwithstanding the above, however, the trading counter used by an associated person of a securities firm who is also qualified as an associated person of a futures commission merchant shall be clearly separated from the trading counter used by a person qualified only as an associated person of a securities firm or of futures commission merchant.
- Account-opening areas: Counters used by securities brokerage departments for opening client accounts shall be clearly separated from those that futures trading departments use for opening client accounts.
- Equipment: A securities brokerage department and a futures trading department may share their equipment.
- For a securities firm that concurrently operates a securities investment consulting business or a futures consulting business, in addition to complying with regulations governing securities investment consulting enterprise places of business and facilities or the provisions of standards for places of business and facilities adopted by the Federation of Futures Industry Associations, the head office's consulting department shall have an office area that is independent and separated from other departments, and shall have an access control system installed.
- The operating area for the wealth management business of a securities firm shall be segregated from other departments and clearly indicated, and a site access control shall be established. If the wealth management business can also be carried out on a trust basis, the department with exclusive responsibility for the trust business shall, if not located within the operating area of the wealth management business, also be segregated from other departments and clearly indicated, and a site access control shall be established.
If a branch office of a securities firm handles business that involves merely receiving trust assets, the counter for that business shall be clearly indicated and segregated from other counters.
- A securities broker that undertakes the collection of proxy forms shall have a clearly marked area for the collection of proxy forms, which may not be set up within the trading counter.
- A securities firm may install automatic service equipment for use by investors, or install such equipment in the securities information/reading room where qualified associated persons designated by the securities firm assist investors in using such equipment, and the following rules shall be observed:
- The services provided by the automatic service equipment of a securities firm shall be limited to the following matters: placement of trading orders, purchases, changes of password, securities passbook updates, putting securities on hold, inquiries regarding securities, trading and personal information, or other matters approved by the competent authority.
- The automatic service equipment provided by a securities firm may not retain personal information such as the account numbers, passwords, electronic certificates, or trading records of investors; a securities firm shall implement information and communications security to ensure that the automatic service equipment provided can be operated normally and is not embedded with illegal malicious functions.
- When accepting transaction instructions from investors placing a securities trading order, the automatic service equipment of the securities firm shall allow investors to review and verify transaction details immediately; transaction details for investor review shall include the securities firm code, investor's account number, order date and time, order serial number, whether the transaction is a purchase or sale, the security's ticker code, name, quantity, order price (and conditions for its execution), and the transaction type (relevant cash, margin loan, or stock loan transactions).
- Placement of trading orders by investors through automatic service equipment provided by a securities firm is categorized as electronic trading, and shall be conducted pursuant to the TWSE regulations governing electronic trading.
- Where a securities firm installs automatic service equipment for use by investors, it shall make a synchronous video recording of the operation of the equipment for documentation purposes, which shall be retained in the place of business for a minimum of 1 month. On the automatic service equipment there shall be a clear indication to investors of the period of preservation of such video recordings. Where a dispute arises from a placement of trading orders, however, the video recordings shall be retained until the dispute is resolved.
- If any incidence of material defect or employee fraud occurs to the automatic service equipment of a securities firm, giving rise to a likelihood of affecting the market trading order and the rights and interests of investors, the TWSE may suspend or prohibit in part or in whole the use of the automatic service equipment.
- The installation of automatic service equipment by a securities firm outside of its place of business or cross-selling services section shall conform to subparagraphs 1 to 6 of this paragraph as well as the following provisions:
- The installation shall, five business days in advance, be reported to the TWSE in writing for recordation and on the Securities Firm Filing Web-Entry. The same applies in the event of relocation or removal of the equipment.
- The name, emergency contact number, services provided, and service hours of the securities firm shall be clearly indicated. The securities firm shall publish on its website details of the locations where the equipment of the preceding paragraph are installed.
- No personnel may be permanently posted on site to manage the equipment. Dedicated closed-circuit television, anti-theft equipment, and facilities and lighting against peeping and alerting users to situations at the back shall be installed.
- Personnel responsible for managing premises where automatic service equipment are installed by a securities firm and outside of its place of business shall fully cooperate in audits conducted by the competent authority or the TWSE, and may not impede, refuse or evade said audits.
- When a securities broker needs to use the spare auction equipment on the cloud infrastructure of the TWSE because its auction equipment or trading transmission system malfunctions or is unable to continue normal operations due to the occurrence of a force majeure event, the securities broker may choose to use any one of the following places to do so:
- Use the place of business of the head office or one of the branch offices of the securities broker.
- Use the place of business of another securities firm.
- Use the place of business of a bank, provided that the bank must issue prior written consent, in which it shall agree that the TWSE may dispatch personnel to the bank's place of business to inquire about the actual status of use, and agree to provide proof of use for the given day.
- With the exception of paragraph 1, subparagraph (7) and paragraph 8, subparagraph (1), provisions governing places of business of securities brokers do not apply to a securities firm which primarily engages in cross-border trading and accepts only trading requests from securities firms or special-purpose securities firms incorporated by a foreign exchange but not trading orders from investors.
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