Article NO. Content

Title:

Regulations Governing Information to be Published in Annual Reports of Public Companies 

Amended Date: 2023.11.10 
Article 18     The overview of business operations shall include the following:
  1. A description of the business:
    1. Scope of business: the company's major lines of business and the relative weight of each, current products (services), and new products (services) planned for development.
    2. An overview of the industry: the current status and development of the industry, the links between the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments of the industry supply chain, and development trends and competition for the company's products.
    3. An overview of the company's technologies and its research and development work: a listing of research and development expenditures as well as technologies and/or products successfully developed during the most recent fiscal year or during the current fiscal year up to the date of publication of the annual report.
    4. The company's long- and short-term business development plans.
  2. An analysis of the market as well as the production and marketing situation, including:
    1. Market analysis: analysis of the geographic areas where the main products (services) of the company are provided (supplied), the company's market share, demand and supply conditions for the market in the future, the market's growth potential, the company's competitive niche, positive and negative factors for future development, and the company's response to such factors.
    2. Usage and manufacturing processes for the company's main products.
    3. Supply situation for the company's major raw materials.
    4. A list of any suppliers and clients accounting for 10 percent or more of the company's total procurement (sales) amount in either of the 2 most recent fiscal years, the amounts bought from (sold to) each, the percentage of total procurement (sales) accounted for by each, and an explanation of the reason for increases or decreases in the above figures. Where the company is prohibited by contract from revealing the name of a client, or where a trading counterpart is an individual person who is not a related party, it may use a code in place of the actual name (see Table 16-1 and Table 16-2).
    5. An indication of the production volume for the 2 most recent fiscal years (see Table 17).
    6. An indication of the volume of units sold for the 2 most recent fiscal years (see Table 18).
  3. The number of employees employed for the 2 most recent fiscal years, and during the current fiscal year up to the date of publication of the annual report, their average years of service, average age, and education levels (including the percentage of employees at each level) (see Table 19).
  4. Disbursements for environmental protection: any losses suffered by the company in the most recent fiscal year and up to the annual report publication date due to environmental pollution incidents (including any compensation paid and any violations of environmental protection laws or regulations found in environmental inspection, specifying the disposition dates, disposition reference numbers, the articles of law violated, and the content of the dispositions), and disclosing an estimate of possible expenses that could be incurred currently and in the future and measures being or to be taken. If a reasonable estimate cannot be made, an explanation of the facts of why it cannot be made shall be provided.
  5. Labor relations:
    1. List any employee benefit plans, continuing education, training, retirement systems, and the status of their implementation, and the status of labor-management agreements and measures for preserving employees' rights and interests.
    2. List any losses suffered by the company in the most recent fiscal year and up to the annual report publication date due to labor disputes (including any violations of the Labor Standards Act found in labor inspection, specifying the disposition dates, disposition reference numbers, the articles of law violated, the substance of the legal violations, and the content of the dispositions), and disclosing an estimate of possible expenses that could be incurred currently and in the future and measures being or to be taken. If a reasonable estimate cannot be made, an explanation of the facts of why it cannot be made shall be provided.
  6. Cyber security management:
    1. Describe the cyber security risk management framework, cyber security policies, concrete management programs, and investments in resources for cyber security management.
    2. List any losses suffered by the company in the most recent fiscal year and up to the annual report publication date due to significant cyber security incidents, the possible impacts therefrom, and measures being or to be taken. If a reasonable estimate cannot be made, an explanation of the facts of why it cannot be made shall be provided.
  7. Important contracts: the contracting parties, major content, restrictive clauses, and the commencement dates and expiration dates of supply/distribution contracts, technical cooperation contracts, engineering/construction contracts, long-term loan contracts, and other contracts that would affect shareholders' equity, where said contracts were either still effective as of the date of publication of the annual report, or expired in the most recent fiscal year (see Table 20).

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