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Relevant Laws

Title：Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation Rules Governing Review of Securities Listings (2023.09.05)
Article 9     Notwithstanding the fact that an issuing company applying for the listing of its stock meets the listing criteria set forth in these Rules, the TWSE may disagree to its listing if the issuing company has any of the events listed below, except for any of those in subparagraphs 8, 9, or 10 under which the TWSE shall disagree to its listing, and is deemed by the TWSE to be inappropriate for listing:
  1. It has any of the events set forth in Article 156, paragraph 1, subparagraphs 1 and 2 of the Securities and Exchange Act, or has made misrepresentation or false statement or conducted unlawful activities that may affect the price of its securities after listing thereof, and will cause fear that the market order may be affected or the public interests may be harmed.
  2. Its financial or business affairs are not independent from other person(s).
  3. It has had any material labor dispute or environmental pollution sufficient to affect its normal financial and business operations, and has not made improvement.
  4. It has been discovered any material non-arms-length transaction and has not made improvement.
  5. After the capital increase through a new share issue which has been effected or is being effected in the year in which it applies for listing is included in the amount of paid-in capital in its final account for the respective year, it does not meet the listing criteria.
  6. It has failed to effectively implement its written accounting system, internal control system, or internal audit system, or has failed to prepare financial reports in accordance with relevant laws and regulations and generally accepted accounting principles, and the event of this failure is considered as material.
  7. There has been serious deterioration in its business operation.
  8. Where the applicant company conducted any activities in violation of the principle of good faith in the most recent five years, or where its directors, general manager or de facto responsible person violated the same principle in the most recent three years.
  9. If an applicant company has less than five directors or same-sex directors on its board of directors, or its independent directors number less than three persons or less than one-third of the number of directors; or if any of its board of directors are unable to independently exercise their functions; or if it has not appointed the remuneration committee pursuant to Article 14-6 of the Securities and Exchange Act and related provisions. Additionally, among the elected independent directors, at least one of them must be a professional in accounting or finance.
  10. Where the applicant company has been registered for trading as an emerging stock on the TPEx in the fiscal year of the listing application and the most recent fiscal year thereto, and there has been, from the TPEx registration date onward, any trading of stock issued by the applicant company by any incumbent director, or shareholder holding 10 percent or greater of its total issued shares other than on the emerging stock market; provided, this restriction shall not apply where such trading is for purposes of underwriting under Article 11 of these Rules or for other legitimate reason.
  11. Where the shares of the applicant company are held by a TWSE (or TPEx) listed company and TPExmeet any of the following conditions, and any equity transfer conducted by the TWSE (or TPEx) listed company during the most recent three years for purposes of reducing its shareholding ratio in the applicant company has not been conducted in a manner giving pre-emptive subscription rights to the existing shareholders, or in other manner not detrimental to the rights and interests of the shareholders of the TWSE (or TPEx) listed company:
    1. The applicant company is the existing or newly established company being transferred business or assets due to a demerger of the TWSE (or TPEx) listed company.
    2. The applicant company is a subsidiary of the TWSE (or TPEx) listed company, and during the three-year period before the application for TWSE listing, the TWSE (or TPEx) listed company has cumulatively reduced its direct or indirect shareholding in the applicant company by 20 percent or more.
  12. Where the listing is considered by the TWSE as inappropriate due to its scope of business, nature or special circumstances.
    Subparagraph 2 of the immediately preceding paragraph shall not apply to companies applying for listing which are government-owned enterprises.
    The ending date of the applicable periods referred to in various subparagraphs of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be the day immediately before the date on which the Agreement for Listing takes effect.
Article 18     Where an issuing company of a group enterprise, other than a government-owned enterprise, applies for the listing of its stock but does not meet the following requirements, the TWSE shall disagree to its listing, notwithstanding the fact that its application is otherwise in compliance with these Rules:
  1. The principal business or products of the applicant company are not in mutual competition with those of any other companies within the same group enterprise. However, this requirement shall not apply if the applicant company has independent operational decision-making ability.
  2. Where there are financial business dealings or transactions between the applicant company and other companies within the same group enterprise, written rules and regulations governing the financial and business affairs among them shall have been formulated and approved by the board of directors of each such company, and in addition, each company within a group enterprise shall execute an undertaking in writing to the effect that its financial and business affairs with other companies are free from any non-arms-length transaction. Where there is no business transaction between them, the applicant company shall execute an undertaking in writing to the effect that in case there is any business dealing in the future, it will be free from non-arms-length transaction.
  3. There shall be no material irregularities in its financial and business conditions or in its above-cited operational guidelines.
  4. The applicant company shall have the potential to develop independent marketing of the products that it sells to other companies within the same group enterprise.
  5. The purchase amount in the most recent period or most recent fiscal year from the time of the application for listing from a company within the same group enterprise does not exceed 70 percent, provided that this provision may be waived in situations resulting from unique characteristics of its business, market demand and supply conditions, government policy, or any other reasonable causes.
  6. The operating revenue or operating profit derived from other companies within the same group enterprise, at the time of the application for listing, in the most recent period, and in the most recent fiscal year, does not exceed 50 percent, or the operating revenue derived from the use of a critical technology or asset provided by the companies mentioned above does not exceed 50 percent; provided that this provision may be waived in situations resulting from unique characteristics of its business, market demand and supply conditions, government policy, or any other reasonable causes, which situation accounts for not more than 70 percent.
Article 19     Where, upon application, a subsidiary, other than a government-owned enterprise, applies for the listing of its stock but is unable to meet the requirements set forth in all the subparagraphs below, the TWSE shall disagree to the listing, notwithstanding the fact that its application meets the criteria set forth in these Rules:
  1. A consolidated financial statement of the parent company and all of its subsidiaries which is prepared in accordance with the accounting principles of the home country of its parent company and an audit opinion issued by a CPA in the Republic of China stating the differences between the accounting principles applicable in the Republic of China and the accounting principles applicable in the home country of the parent company and the impact of such differences on such financial statement shall be submitted along with the application, unless the applicant company is applying for listing pursuant to paragraph 2 or 4 of Article 4, or Article 5, Article 6, or Article 6-1, or in the fiscal year of the application for listing and the most recent fiscal year the amount of purchase/sales transactions between it and its parent company is less than 10 percent of its total purchase/sales amount.
  2. According to the consolidated financial statement submitted pursuant to the preceding paragraph, the total amount of net worth shall be NT$1 billion or more in the most recent fiscal year and the profit before tax shall each represent 3 percent or greater of the total amount of net worth in each of the most recent two fiscal years, provided that such shall not apply where such event is the product of business nature, market demand and supply condition, government policy, or any other reasonable cause.
  3. The total number of shares of the applicant company held by the parent company and all of its subsidiaries, and by those companies' directors, supervisors, representatives, and greater than 10 percent shareholders, and by related parties thereof, shall not exceed 70 percent of the total number of its issued shares. If this 70 percent limit is exceeded, the applicant company shall conduct a pre-listing initial public offering to reduce the percentage of shares held by the aforesaid persons to 70 percent or lesser. However, the same does not apply where persons, other than those restricted by this subparagraph with respect to the total amount of shareholdings, hold a total of no less than 300 million shares in the applicant company; or, in the case the share has no par value or the par value per share is not NT$10, where persons, other than those restricted by this subparagraph with respect to the total amount of shareholdings, hold a total of such shares with a net value of not less than NT$6 billion in the applicant company.
  6. If the stock of the parent company is already traded on the TWSE (or the TPEx), at the time of its application for TWSE listing, the pro forma operating revenue or net operating income as stated in the pro forma consolidated financial statements for each of the most recent 4 quarters, excluding the financial data for the applicant company, and reviewed by a CPA, was not down by 50 percent or more from the operating revenue or operating income stated in the consolidated financial statements for the same period, and the parent company has not transferred any material customers or business within the most recent two fiscal years. However, this need not apply if the parent company and the subsidiary have different business types, industrial classifications, or product types, and moreover are not mutually competitive, or if it resulted from another reasonable cause.
    When a subsidiary applies for TWSE listing pursuant to the proviso of subparagraph 6 of the preceding paragraph, any transfer of shares within the three years prior to the application for TWSE listing for purposes of reducing the parent company's shareholding in the subsidiary shall have been conducted in a manner in which the pre-emptive subscription right is given to the original shareholders of the parent company or another manner not detrimental to the rights and interest of the shareholders of the parent.
    The proviso of the sixth subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall not apply where the parent company of the applicant company is a TWSE- or TPEx-listed investment holding company.
Article 31     In addition that the TWSE must reject the application of a domestic issuer, foreign issuer or its subordinate company for the listing of its stock in any of the circumstances under subparagraphs 7, 8 and 9, the TWSE may also reject the application of a domestic issuer or a foreign issuer for the listing of stocks at the TIB if any of the following circumstances exists and the TWSE decides against listing, despite that it meets the requirements on listing set forth in Article 29:
  1. Has the circumstances described in Article 156, paragraph 1, subparagraphs 1 and 2 of the Securities and Exchange At, or its act is false, fraudulent or illegal to such an extent the price of the securities after listing may be affected which is therefore likely to jeopardize the market order or public interest.
  2. Fails to have its finance or business independently separated from another person’s.
  3. Is involved in a major labor and management dispute or environmental pollution incident that would affect the company’s normal finance and business operation, and no improvement has been made.
  4. Is found to have major irregular transactions, and no improvement has been made.
  5. Has failed to effectively implement its written accounting system, internal control system or internal audit system, or failed to prepare its financial reports in accordance with applicable laws and the general accepted accounting principle, and the failure is significant.
  6. It is experiencing a serious decline in the business activities it engages in.
  7. The director, general manager or real responsible person of the applicant or its incumbent director, general manager or real responsible person has been in breach of the principle of honesty and good faith in the most recent years.
  8. The board of directors of the applicant comprises less than five members, only same-sex members, or less than three independent directors, or its independent directors take less than one-third of the seats of the board; its board of directors is unable to perform its duties independently; or it fails to establish the compensation committee in accordance with Article 14-6 of the Securities and Exchange Act and its applicable rules. Further, at least one of its elected independent directors must be a professional in accounting or finance. The above shall, however, not apply if a domestic issuer, prior to application for the listing of stocks and its stocks have not been registered with the TPEx for trading, has undertaken to complete the election of its independent directors and establish its functional committees no later than commencement of listing and trading of its stocks.
  9. Where the applicant has registered its stocks at the TPEx for trading during the fiscal year of its application for the listing and its most recent fiscal year, since its listing date, its incumbent directors and shareholders holding more than 10 percent of its total issued shares have not traded any stocks issued by the applicant at the TPEx market. The above shall, however, not apply if it engages in prelisting public sale in accordance with Article 36 or has other legitimate reasons.
  10. Where the shares of the applicant are held by a TWSE/TPEx listed company and it meets one of the following conditions, the shares transfer by the TWSE/TPEx listed company for purpose of reducing its shareholding in the applicant in the most recent three years was not done by having the company’s existing shareholders to subscribe the shares on a priority basis or otherwise in a manner not detrimental to the shareholders’ equity of the company:
    1. The applicant is an existing or newly incorporated company to which business or assets will be transferred by a TWSE/TPEx listed company after split.
    2. The applicant is a subsidiary of a TWSE/TPEx listed company in which the TWSE/TPEx listed company has reduced its direct or indirect shareholding by a total of 20 percent or more within the three years prior to the application for listing.
  11. Is otherwise deemed by the TWSE as inappropriate for listing due to business cope, nature or special circumstances.
    The provisions under all the subparagraphs of the preceding paragraph shall apply until the day before the day when its listing contract takes effect.
Article 32     An application for listing of its stock at the TIB by a domestic issuer or foreign issuer of the group enterprise shall be rejected if it fails to meet the following requirements, despite that it has complied with the applicable provisions of these Rules:
  1. The major business or products of the applicant and those of the other companies within the same group enterprise are not competing with each other, except where the applicant has the ability to make independent operation decisions.
  2. Where the applicant has financial business dealings or transactions with the other companies within the same group enterprise, each entity shall establish a specific written system for operating policies on finance and business between them, for approval by their respective board of directors, and shall issue a written undertaking or guarantee on the absence of irregular transactions. If there is no business dealings between them, the applicant shall issue a written statement, undertaking they will never have irregular transactions if there are business dealings between them in the future.
  3. There shall be no material irregularities in Its financial and business conditions or in its above-cited operational guidelines.
  4. It should have the development potential for independent marketing of the products to be sold to the other companies within the same group enterprise.
  5. The purchase amount in the most recent period or most recent fiscal year from the time of the application for listing from a company within the same group enterprise does not exceed 70 percent, provided that this provision may be waived in situations resulting from unique characteristics of its business, market demand and supply conditions, government policy, or any other reasonable causes.
  6. The operating revenue or operating profit derived from other companies within the same group enterprise in the most recent period, and in the most recent fiscal year the time of application for listing does not exceed 50 percent, or the operating revenue derived from the use of a critical technology or asset provided by the companies mentioned above does not exceed 50 percent; provided that this provision may be waived in situations resulting from unique characteristics of its business, market demand and supply conditions, government policy, or any other reasonable causes.
    Subparagraph 5 of the preceding paragraph may be waived if the circumstance under this subparagraph is due to characteristics of the trade, market supplies and demands, government policies or other reasonable cause.
Article 33     An application for listing of stocks at the TIB by a subsidiary that maintains the parent and subsidiary relationship at the time of the application shall be rejected if it fails to meet the following requirements, despite that it has complied with the applicable provisions of these Rules:
  1. The parents company and all its subsidiaries and their directors, supervisors and representatives, and shareholders holding more than 10 percent of the company’s total shares, and their related parties all together shall not hold more than 80 percent of the total issued shares of the applicant. Where the above shareholding exceeds 70 percent, there should be prelisting public sales of shares to reduce the shareholding to less than 80 percent. However, the same does not apply where persons, other than those restricted by this subparagraph with respect to the total amount of shareholdings, hold a total of no less than 50 million shares; or, in the case the share has no par value or the par value per share is not NT$10, where persons, other than those restricted by this subparagraph with respect to the total amount of shareholdings, hold a total of such shares with a net value of not less than NT$1 billion in the applicant company.
  2. Where the stocks of its parent company are traded at the TWSE/TPEx centralized securities exchange market, the pro forma operating revenues or operating income shown in the pro forma consolidated financial statements that excludes the applicant’s financial data, audited by CPA, for the most recent four quarters at the time of the application indicate no decline of over 50 percent compared to the consolidated financial statements for the current term, and no transfer of business of any major client of the parent company has occurred during the most recent two fiscal years. The above, however, may be waived if the parent company and the subsidiary engage in different types of business, conduct business in different industries or have different types of products and are not competing with each other, or it is due to other reasonable cause.
    Where a subsidiary applies for listing at the TIB in accordance with the proviso of subparagraph 3 of the preceding paragraph, when the parent company transfer shares to reduce its shareholding in the subsidiary during the three years prior to the application for listing, the shares to be transferred should be offered for subscription by existing shareholders on a priority basis or the transfer should be made in a way that will not injure the equity of the shareholders’ of the parent company.
    The proviso of the third subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall not apply where the parent company of the applicant company is a TWSE- or TPEx-listed investment holding company.