17 April, 2009
Local Governments to Administer Company Registration
The United Daily News reports that Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs will propose amendments to the Company Act that will shift responsibility for forming and regulating companies to local governments.
Currently, companies capitalized with NT$500 million or more (c. US$15.5 million) must register with the Department of Commerce under the Ministry. Companies capitalized with less than NT$500 million also register with the Department of Commerce unless they are domiciled in Taipei or Kaohsiung City.
The proposed amendments will transfer administration of the company registration system to city and county governments, which will be able to collect a fee equivalent to 0.025% of the registering company's capital.
The Department of Commerce meanwhile will gradually become an agency that drafts legislation and provides guidance to businesses as its regulatory functions are transferred to local governments.
The report quoted the acting director of the Department as saying that these changes will require major structural changes to the Company Act. The Department plans to hold public hearings on its proposed amendments at the end of April and to send its draft amendments to the Executive Yuan for review within three months. If approved by the Executuve Yuan, the proposed amendments will need to be accepted by the Legislative Yuan before they become law.
For more information on business setups and corporate governance, please contact Shan Lee.
