Taipei, Nov. 20 (CNA) Taiwan's Stock Exchange Corp. (SEC) said Tuesday its board of directors has approved a proposal to relax the requirement for the application of a primary stock listing in Taiwan.
An SEC official said that foreign issuers with a net worth of NT$600 million (US$20.6 million) or above and a capital of NT$400 million or above will be eligible to apply for listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The revision, which awaits approval by the SEC's higher authority before taking effect, was proposed in view of the fact that most foreign businesses include the concept of net worth when applying for listing, the official said.
Currently, the listing standard is mainly based on capital stock. An issuer, except for certain stocks of technology firms, has to have an equity of NT$600 million or above to qualify for listing.
The SEC's board also further opened the door to companies whose capital is below the NT$600 million threshold by revising the calculation of an issuer's profitability from capital stock to net equity and the ratio of pre-tax net profitability to net worth, according to the official.
(By Tien Yu-in and Kendra Lin)