Letter to Taiwan FSC on Proposed Draft Amendments to Article 43-1, Article 178-1, and Article 183 of the Securities Exchange Act

2022-03-15

On 15 March 2022, ACGA sent a letter to the Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission in response to its Proposed Draft Amendments to Article 43-1, Article 178-1, and Article 183 of the Securities Exchange Act.

We welcome the proposed amendments which are set to lower the threshold for substantial shareholding disclosure from 10% to 5%. However, we remain concerned that peculiarities of the Taiwan system will continue to make it difficult to achieve the regulation’s legislative intent of alerting regulators and shareholders to possible changes in control. We offer suggestions including:

  • Tightening the timing of disclosure to five days from 10 days
  • Ensuring that substantial shareholder disclosure reliably appears among issuer announcements
  • Strengthening the definition, guidance and enforcement of “joint” share acquisitions
  • Clarifying disclosure on “plans”, particularly “plans” to seek control regardless of shareholding level
  • Requiring disclosure of “significant controllers” of unlisted firms