Amended Article

Title:

Regulations Governing the Appointment and Exercise of Powers by the Remuneration Committee of a Company Whose Stock is Listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange or the Taipei Exchange 

Amended Date: 2020.01.15 
Article 6     Within the scope of execution of business, a remuneration committee member of a public company shall maintain independence, and may not have any direct or indirect interest relationship with the company. During the 2 years before being appointed or during the term of office, a remuneration committee member shall not have been or be any of the following:
  1. An employee of the company or any of its affiliates.
  2. A director or supervisor of the company or any of its affiliates.
  3. A natural-person shareholder who holds shares, together with those held by the person's spouse, minor children, or held by the person under any other's name, in an aggregate amount of 1 percent or more of the total number of issued shares of the company or ranking in the top 10 in shareholding.
  4. A spouse, relative within the second degree of kinship, or lineal relative within the third degree of kinship, of a managerial officer under subparagraph 1 or any of the persons in the preceding two subparagraphs.
  5. A director, supervisor, or employee of a corporate shareholder that directly holds 5 percent or more of the total number of issued shares of the company, or that ranks in the top 5 in shareholding, or that designates its representative to serve as a director or supervisor of the company under Article 27, paragraph 1 or 2 of the Company Act.
  6. If a majority of the company's director seats or voting shares and those of any other company are controlled by the same person: a director, supervisor, or employee of that other company.
  7. If the chairperson, general manager, or person holding an equivalent position of the company and a person in any of those positions at another company or institution are the same person or are spouses: a director (or governor), supervisor, or employee of that other company or institution.
  8. A director, supervisor, managerial officer, or shareholder holding 5 percent or more of the shares, of a specified company or institution that has a financial or business relationship with the company.
  9. A professional individual who, or an owner, partner, director, supervisor, or managerial officer of a sole proprietorship, partnership, company, or institution that, provides auditing services to the company or any affiliate of the company, or that provides commercial, legal, financial, accounting or related services to the company or any affiliate of the company for which the provider in the past 2 years has received cumulative compensation exceeding NT$500,000, or a spouse thereof; provided that this restriction does not apply to a member of the remuneration committee, public tender offer review committee, or special committee for merger/consolidation and acquisition, who exercises powers pursuant to the Act or to the Business Mergers and Acquisitions Act or related laws or regulations.
    Subparagraph 2 and subparagraphs 5 to 7 of the preceding paragraph and subparagraph 1 of paragraph 4 do not apply to independent directors appointed in accordance with the Act or the laws and regulations of the local country by, and concurrently serving as such at, a public company and its parent or subsidiary or a subsidiary of the same parent.
    The requirement of paragraph 1 in relation to "during the two years before being appointed" does not apply where a remuneration committee member has served as an independent director of the company or any of its affiliates, or of a specified company or institution that has a financial or business relationship with the company, as stated in subparagraph 2 or 8 of paragraph 1, but is currently no longer in that position.
    The term "specified company or institution" as used in paragraph 1, subparagraph 8, means a company or institution that has one of the following relationships with the company:
  1. It holds 20 percent or more and no more than 50 percent of the total number of issued shares of the company;
  2. It holds shares, together with those held by any of its directors, supervisors, and shareholders holding more than 10 percent of the total number of shares, in an aggregate total of 30 percent or more of the total number of issued shares of the company, and there is a record of financial or business transactions between it and the company. The shareholdings of any of the aforesaid persons include shares held by the spouse or minor children of the person or by the person under any other's name.
  3. It and its group companies are the source of 30 percent or more of the operating revenue of the company.
  4. It and its group companies are the source of 50 percent or more of the quantity or the total purchase amount of principal raw materials (those that account for 30 percent or more of the total purchase amount, and are indispensable and key raw materials in product manufacturing) or principal products (those accounting for 30 percent or more of the total operating revenue) of the company.
    For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2 and the preceding paragraph, the terms "parent", "subsidiary", and "group" shall have the meanings as determined under International Financial Reporting Standards 10.
    The term "affiliate" in paragraphs 1 and 3 means an affiliated enterprise under Chapter VI-1 of the Company Act, or a company for which consolidated financial reports are required to be prepared under the Criteria Governing Preparation of Affiliation Reports, Consolidated Business Reports and Consolidated Financial Statements of Affiliated Enterprises or under International Financial Reporting Standard 10.
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Article 8     The remuneration committee shall convene at least twice a year, which requirement shall be expressly provided in the remuneration committee charter.
    In calling a meeting of the remuneration committee, a notice setting forth therein the subject(s) to be discussed at the meeting shall be given to each member at least 7 days in advance. In emergency circumstances, however, the meeting may be convened at any time.
    When a company has selected independent directors in accordance with the Act, at least one independent director shall participate on the remuneration committee, and the entire membership shall unanimously elect the independent director to serve as the convenor and meeting chair. If there is no independent director, one member shall be elected as the convener and meeting chair by and from among the entire membership. When the convener goes on leave or otherwise for any reason whatsoever is unable to convene a meeting, the meeting shall be convened by another independent director of the committee designated by the convener, or if there is no other independent director on the committee, by another member elected by and from among the other members of the committee.
    The remuneration committee may invite directors, managerial officers of relevant departments, internal auditors, certified public accountants, legal consultants, or other personnel to attend meetings as nonvoting participants and provide relevant necessary information, provided that they shall leave the meeting when deliberation and voting take place.
Article 9-1     When a meeting of the remuneration committee will discuss the remuneration of any member of the remuneration committee, it will be clearly stated at the meeting. If there is likely to be any prejudice to the interests of the company, that member may not participate in the discussion or voting and shall enter recusal during the discussion and voting. The member also may not act as another remuneration committee member's proxy to exercise voting rights on that matter.
Article 10     Minutes shall be prepared of the discussions at the remuneration committee, and the minutes shall record the matters listed below in a detailed and accurate manner:
  1. Session, time, and place of the meeting.
  2. Name of the meeting chair.
  3. Member attendance, specifying the names and number of members in attendance, excused, and absent.
  4. Names and titles of those present at the meeting as nonvoting participants.
  5. Name of minutes taker.
  6. Matters reported on.
  7. Agenda items: the resolution method and outcome of each motion; the name of any member whose own remuneration comes under discussion, the content of the discussion about the member's remuneration, and the specifics regarding recusal of the member; and any objections or reservations expressed by any member.
  8. Extraordinary motions: the name of the mover, the resolution method and outcome of the motion; summary of the comments made by any member, expert, or other person; the name of any member whose own remuneration comes under discussion, the content of the discussion about the member's remuneration, and the specifics regarding recusal of the member; and any objections or reservations expressed by any member.
  9. Other matters required to be recorded.
    If with respect to any resolution of the remuneration committee, any member has a dissenting or qualified opinion that is on record or stated in a written statement, the opinion shall be stated in the meeting minutes, and additionally, within two days counting inclusively from the date of occurrence, shall be publicly disclosed and reported on the information reporting website designated by the competent authority.
    The remuneration committee attendance book constitutes an integral part of the minutes of each meeting of the committee.
    The meeting minutes shall bear the signature or seal of the chair and the minute taker. The minutes shall be distributed to each committee member within 20 days after the meeting, and shall be submitted to the board of directors and treated as important records of the company, and shall be preserved for 5 years.
    If before the end of the preservation period under the preceding paragraph, any litigation arises with respect to any matter in connection with the remuneration committee, the minutes shall be preserved until the litigation is concluded. The meeting minutes of paragraph 1 may be produced and distributed in electronic form.
    If a remuneration committee meeting is convened by video conference, the video conference audiovisual data constitute an integral part of the meeting minutes.
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Article 13-1     If, at the time of issuance of the 15 January 2020 amendment to the Act, a remuneration committee member is a director, supervisor, or employee of a corporate shareholder that designates its representative to serve as a director or supervisor of the company as referred to in Article 6, paragraph 1, subparagraph 5, or falls in the circumstances set out in Article 6, subparagraph 6 or 7, the member may continue to serve until the expiration of the member's term.
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