East Asiaphase 2

Taiwan: what can be established about a company

Taiwan's company register (商工登記公示資料) is free and unusually detailed: paid-in capital, representative, directors and supervisors with the shares each holds, registered address, business scope and a full change history, all keyed to the 8-digit 統一編號. Listed and OTC companies disclose financials and insider holdings on MOPS (公開資訊觀測站). Private company accounts are not public, and the annual filing of major shareholders (over 10 per cent) made to the Ministry of Economic Affairs' platform under Company Act Article 22-1 is not open to the public.

Identifiers

Identifier	Format	Note
統一編號 (Unified Business Number)	8 digits, e.g. 12345678	Issued on registration; used by MOEA, the tax authority, courts and procurement
公司名稱 (registered Chinese name)	Chinese characters	The only legal name; an English name may be recorded with the trade authority but is not controlled
股票代號 (stock code)	4 digits, e.g. 2330	TWSE and TPEx listed and emerging companies; used as the key on MOPS

Sources

Each with what it discloses, how it is accessed, and our coverage level.

Registry

商工登記公示資料查詢服務 (Business registration public search)Free register of companies, branches and sole proprietorships: capital, representative, directors and supervisors with shareholdings, address, business items, status and change history.Ministry of Economic Affairs (經濟部商業發展署) · Chinese only. Directors are shown with the shares they hold; other shareholders are not listed. The same data is released as open data on data.gov.tw.

open web
full

Registry

營業（稅籍）登記資料公示查詢 (Tax registration public search)Tax registration status, registered business address and whether the entity is a VAT-registered business, keyed to 統一編號.Ministry of Finance (財政部) · Useful to confirm that a registered company is actually operating; a company can be company-registered but have ceased tax registration.

open web
partial

Beneficial ownership

公司負責人及主要股東資訊申報平臺 (Responsible persons and major shareholders reporting platform)Annual report (by 31 March) of directors, supervisors, managers and shareholders holding more than 10 per cent, required of non-public companies under Company Act Article 22-1. The data is for AML purposes and is not public.Ministry of Economic Affairs; platform operated by Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corporation (集保結算所) · OpenDossier notes the obligation and infers ownership from director shareholdings in the register and from MOPS insider filings for listed companies.

restricted
partial

Securities filings

公開資訊觀測站 MOPSFinancial statements, annual reports, material information, insider and major shareholder holdings, and related-party data for TWSE, TPEx and emerging-stock companies.Taiwan Stock Exchange (臺灣證券交易所), on behalf of the FSC · Chinese with partial English. Public companies that are not listed also file. Historical data before about 2001 is thin.

open web
full

Regulators

金管會裁罰案件 (FSC penalty cases)Administrative penalties imposed by the FSC and its bureaus (banking, securities and futures, insurance, examination) from 2012 onward.Financial Supervisory Commission (金融監督管理委員會) · Chinese only. The Fair Trade Commission (公平交易委員會) and sector regulators publish their own penalty lists separately.

open web
full

Courts

司法院法學資料檢索系統 (Judicial Yuan judgments search)Free full text of civil, criminal and administrative judgments and rulings from all courts, searchable by party name.Judicial Yuan (司法院) · Company names appear in full; natural persons are partly anonymised. Rulings in bankruptcy, liquidation and reorganisation appear here. Bulk access is throttled.

open web
full

Sanctions

資恐防制法 targeted financial sanctions designationsDomestic designations under the Counter-Terrorism Financing Act and relayed UN Security Council designations.Ministry of Justice (法務部), with the Investigation Bureau AML Division · Taiwan is not a UN member and implements UN lists by domestic announcement. Export control entity lists are published by the International Trade Administration separately.

open web
partial

Insolvency

Company status and court insolvency rulingsThere is no central insolvency register. The company register shows dissolution, liquidation and revocation status; bankruptcy, reorganisation and liquidation orders are court rulings published in the judgments database and in court announcements.Ministry of Economic Affairs (register status); Judicial Yuan (rulings) · Register status may lag the court order. Many defunct companies are simply revoked (廢止) for non-filing rather than wound up.

open web
partial

IP offices

TIPO patent and trade mark searchGlobal Patent Search System and trade mark search with applicant and owner names, in Chinese and English where filed.Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (經濟部智慧財產局) · Applicant names are free text; foreign applicants appear in transliterated Chinese and may not match the romanised name used elsewhere.

open web
partial

Procurement

政府電子採購網 (Government e-Procurement System)Tender notices, award notices naming the winning supplier, and the list of suppliers barred from government procurement (拒絕往來廠商).Public Construction Commission (行政院公共工程委員會) · Award records carry the supplier's 統一編號, which makes matching reliable. Debarment entries have fixed terms and must be read with their dates.

open web
partial

Caveats

The Chinese registered name is the legal name; English names are not unique and the romanisation used by a company may differ from Hanyu Pinyin or Wade-Giles forms found in foreign records.
The register shows directors' shareholdings but not the full shareholder list of a private company; the over-10-per-cent shareholder filing is not public.
Financial statements are public only for public companies on MOPS; private companies disclose no accounts.
Court judgments are comprehensive but written in Chinese; party names are given as filed, which for foreign parties may be a Chinese transliteration.
A company shown as registered may have ceased tax registration or been revoked for non-filing; check both the MOEA and tax status.

Questions

Is the Taiwan company register free?

Yes. The Ministry of Economic Affairs' public search is free and shows capital, representative, directors and supervisors with their shareholdings, address, business scope and change history, keyed to the 統一編號.

Can I find the shareholders of a Taiwanese private company?

Only partly. The register lists directors and supervisors with their shares. The annual filing of shareholders holding over 10 per cent is made to a Ministry of Economic Affairs platform for AML purposes and is not public.

Are court cases searchable by company name?

Yes. The Judicial Yuan database publishes the full text of judgments from all courts free of charge, and company names appear unredacted. Only cases that reached a judgment or ruling appear.

Does Taiwan apply UN sanctions?

Taiwan is not a UN member but gives effect to UN designations through announcements by the Ministry of Justice under the Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, alongside its own designations. OpenDossier screens both and third-country lists.

Sources

Reviewed 26 October 2026. Rules and fees change; confirm with the authority before relying on them.

A brief on a company in Taiwan

Coverage stated by section; official document fees at cost.

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