TAIWAN Trends and Developments Contributed by: Stephen Wu, Yvonne Hsieh, Wei-Han Wu and Erica Chiu, Lee and Li, Attorneys-at-Law
Lee and Li, Attorneys-at-Law 8F, No. 555, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd. Taipei 11072 Taiwan Tel: +886 2 2763 8000 ext. 2388 Fax: +886 2 2766 5566 Email: stephenwu@leeandli.com Web: www.leeandli.com
Overview of Taiwan Merger Control Rules Merger control in Taiwan is regulated by the Taiwan Fair Trade Act (TFTA), and the competent authority is the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC). The princi - ple is that a filing with the TFTC would be required for a transaction that falls within the definition of a “com - bination” under the TFTA if any of the filing thresholds is met and no exemption applies. Type of combination Article 10 of the TFTA defines a “combination” to include: • a merger; • the holding or acquisition of at least one-third of the voting shares of, or interest in, another enter - prise; • a transfer or lease of all or a substantial part of an enterprise’s business or assets; • having an arrangement with another enterprise for joint operation on a regular, ongoing basis, or the management of another enterprise’s business based on a contract of entrustment; or • having direct or indirect control over the operation or personnel management of another enterprise. Filing thresholds Under the TFTA, there are both turnover filing thresh - olds and market share filing thresholds. On 21 Jan - uary 2026, the TFTC passed amendments to the “Thresholds and Calculation of Sales Amount which Enterprises of a Merger shall File”. The amendments raise the sales amount threshold for merger filings to accommodate economic growth and market scale changes in Taiwan, reduce the filing burden on busi - nesses, and loosen regulatory restrictions. Following
these amendments, a merger must be reported to the TFTC if any of the following conditions applies: • the aggregate global turnover of all the enterprises to a combination in the preceding fiscal year exceeded TWD50 billion (previously TWD40 billion), and each of at least two of the enterprises had a turnover in Taiwan of more than TWD3 billion (pre - viously TWD2 billion) in the preceding fiscal year; • for a combination of non-financial enterprises, one of the enterprises generated a turnover in Taiwan of more than TWD20 billion (previously TWD15 billion) in the preceding fiscal year, while the other enterprise generated a turnover in Taiwan of more than TWD3 billion (previously TWD3 billion) in the preceding fiscal year; • for a combination between financial enterprises, one of the enterprises generated an annual turno - ver of more than TWD40 billion (previously TWD30 billion), while the other enterprise generated an annual turnover of more than TWD3 billion (previ - ously TWD2 billion); • as a result of the combination, the enterprises in a combination will jointly acquire at least one-third of the market share in Taiwan; or • one of the enterprises participating in the combina - tion holds a market share of at least one-quarter in Taiwan before the combination. Substantive test and review timeline In terms of the substantive test, as prescribed under Article 13 of the TFTA, if the TFTC concludes, after considering all relevant factors, that the overall eco - nomic benefits of the combination outweigh the dis - advantages resulting from competition restraint, clear - ance would be granted.
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