Taiwan – CM PB

Country Manual Private Banking

Taiwan – Update 2024

BRP has updated its Country Manual Private Banking for Taiwan out of Bank’s Country of Establishment (DEF, RS, BT & RT)

Regulatory Template, Regulatory Summary and Behaviour Template

Material changes

The Country Manual has been reviewed to ensure that the content of all documents remain accurate and in line with the evolving interpretation of the current legal and regulatory framework.

Based on the advice of our legal counsel the following activities remain permitted (Grey zone/YES) subject to the additional condition – limitations apply to investing in locally listed securities from abroad:

Execution only – Receiving unsolicited brokerage orders from a client;

Generic Recommendation Lists – Proving generic recommendation lists;

Personalised Recommendation Lists – Providing personalised recommendation lists;

Providing Personalised Investment Advice with and without an ongoing advisory agreement.

The reason being, foreign banks must be aware of the limitations that apply to Taiwanese residents investing in Taiwanese listed securities from abroad. Pursuant to Taiwan’s regulations governing foreigners’ investment in Taiwanese securities (the “FINI Regulations”) and the local practice, a foreign investor may not invest in Taiwan listed stocks unless the foreign investor has registered itself as a foreign institutional investor (“FINI”) with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (“TWSE”). The issue appears on whether the FINI Regulations permit the arrangement under which a foreign Bank (registered as a FINI with the TWSE) is engaged by a Taiwanese person (being a Taiwanese individual or entity) to invest in Taiwanese listed stocks with (Taiwanese) source of funds from such Taiwanese person. The answer varies depending on whether the FINI is in the form of a “fund” or not. In short, if the FINI is a fund (such as a mutual fund), then there is no express prohibition on the FINI’s accepting of Taiwanese residents as clients, while if the FINI is not a fund, then such FINI may not accept Taiwanese clients.

Non-material changes

Several comments have been slightly reworded (without introducing material changes) to reflect the regulatory situation/current interpretation of the regulatory framework more accurately.  

Regulatory Summary

This document reflects the changes contained in the RT.

BT Short Comparison

BRP has created a comparison document allowing users to quickly identify the modifications made compared to the previous version of the PB Manual (BT Short Comparison). The BT Short Comparison can be found on BRP’s platform (mybrponline) in the Search tab by entering in the Document Field “CM PB BT SHORT COMP” and “TAIWAN” in the Target Country Field.

The BT Short Comparison should be read as follows:

The first column contains a short description of the activity in question. The second column contains the answers of the previous version of the Country Manual (online until the day of the alert). The third column contains the new answers of the most recent version of the Country Manual. Only the modified answers are displayed (in color). If the answers in the new version are unchanged compared to the previous version, they are shaded in grey.

For more information, please contact us: info@brpsa.com

Geneva, November 22nd, 2024