# Difficulties of forming a local fintech company? **URL:** \ **Category:** Entrepreneurship\ **Created:** [June 30, 2021, 2:18am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140 "2021-06-30T02:18:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jimbob132](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jimbob132](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/jimbob132)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 2:18am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/1 "2021-06-30T02:18:52Z")
How hard is it for a foreigner (and especially Chinese) to form a local fintech company in Taiwan? Has anyone gone through this process? The company would handle processing customer money, think something related to crypto. I was told by my CPA that it needs special approval by the investment committee and should be handled by a larger CPA firm like Deloitte and that they don’t have the resource to help me. A regular Taiwan company took 3 months for me to register. I’m wondering if anyone has gone through this process for a company in fintech? ---
**Author:** ![DesiInTaipei](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/desiintaipei/32/95528_2.png) [@DesiInTaipei](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/DesiInTaipei)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 3:02am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/2 "2021-06-30T03:02:05Z")
> [@jimbob132](#): > > How hard is it for a foreigner (and especially Chinese) to form a local fintech company in Taiwan? Don’t have real data, but I can safely assume that’s even if it’s not hard to start it’ll be hard to sustain. Taiwan doesn’t have proper support at the institutional and regulatory levels for developing the fintech ecosystem. They only keep talking about it. ---
**Author:** ![slawa](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/slawa/32/112823_2.png) [@slawa](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/slawa)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 3:15am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/3 "2021-06-30T03:15:48Z")
Fintech regulations must be absolutely absurd. I don’t actually know any details, but a lot of well funded international fintech companies looked at the regulations for Taiwanese market and decided not to go forward. It would probably screw with their business model and standard procedures. Look, even PayPal is completely crooked in Taiwan. Only supports one bank and can’t transfer between two Taiwanese accounts. :rofl: Skype from Microsoft … try to up your balance for a Taiwanese account :rofl: Good luck trying to follow their regulations and not have ridiculous procedures like local banks have for international transfers and foreigners. ---
**Author:** ![slawa](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/slawa/32/112823_2.png) [@slawa](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/slawa)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 3:24am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/4 "2021-06-30T03:24:44Z")
There are small improvements, but probably not in the areas you are aiming to do business in. > **[Migrant workers in Taiwan set for easier cross-border remittances | Taiwan...](https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4233686)** > > New regulation lowers threshold for operating migrant worker money transfer business | 2021-06-27 11:23:00 ---
**Author:** ![DesiInTaipei](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/desiintaipei/32/95528_2.png) [@DesiInTaipei](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/DesiInTaipei)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 3:25am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/5 "2021-06-30T03:25:27Z")
Read this [http://www.winklerpartners.com/?p=10494](http://www.winklerpartners.com/?p=10494) ---
**Author:** ![bdog](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@bdog](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/bdog)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 3:34am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/6 "2021-06-30T03:34:57Z")
So two of the paltry number of successful applicants named for the regulatory sandbox, which sounds like some sort of program to encourage startups and innovation, were existing Taiwanese banks! Comedy gold. ---
**Author:** ![DesiInTaipei](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/desiintaipei/32/95528_2.png) [@DesiInTaipei](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/DesiInTaipei)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 3:45am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/7 "2021-06-30T03:45:27Z")
Taiwan’s FSC and IT ministries need to first learn how to parse a string with 2 characters correctly. Then they can dream about fintech. ---
**Author:** ![Brendon](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/brendon/32/174145_2.png) [@Brendon](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Brendon)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:17am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/8 "2021-06-30T04:17:33Z")
In fairness it’s not quite that bad. Being banks, they had existing licenses that their new services could be migrated to, I guess. The other startups couldn’t “graduate” because no license type existed for them, which was the point of the sandbox. I worked at one of them, and implemented the FSC reporting. There was quite a lot of it, mostly because Taiwan is obsessed with money laundering (for obvious reasons). And some things are still rather old-fashioned, like having to fill out paperwork at at the bank all the time. But in general I found the FSC to be pretty reasonable, and willing to bend a little to help us streamline things. Change is slow, but it’s happening. I have no specific advice for the OP because I don’t know what license a crypto exchange would operate under (what is Maicoin registered as?). But a good place to start would be the FSC’s own fintech accelerator space: [金融科技創新園區 | FinTechSpace](https://www.fintechspace.com.tw/en/) ---
**Author:** ![DesiInTaipei](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/desiintaipei/32/95528_2.png) [@DesiInTaipei](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/DesiInTaipei)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:22am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/9 "2021-06-30T04:22:10Z")
> [@Brendon](#): > > Taiwan is obsessed with money laundering Well then maybe they should start with the 1000s of landlords who hide their money rather than worrying about an innovative fintech trying to make it easier to transfer NT 100 to your friend. The fintech sector needs an accelerated pace, not glacial rate of changes. ---
**Author:** ![Brendon](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/brendon/32/174145_2.png) [@Brendon](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Brendon)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:23am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/10 "2021-06-30T04:23:48Z")
The landlords are small fry compared to the “organizations” the FSC is worried about. But sure, this is definitely one of those “Taiwan gonna Taiwan” things. ---
**Author:** ![DesiInTaipei](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/desiintaipei/32/95528_2.png) [@DesiInTaipei](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/DesiInTaipei)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:28am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/11 "2021-06-30T04:28:39Z")
Ya. Problem is the small fry with large share are traditional Chinese - so the assumption is they can do no wrong. Small corporations in fintech on the other hand will serve people without hukou as well - sirens! Sirens! Run for your lives ! ---
**Author:** ![bdog](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@bdog](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/bdog)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:30am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/12 "2021-06-30T04:30:44Z")
Reply meant for @Brendon. They weren’t that obsessed with money laundering when they permitted those 4 local banks to bank Bitfinex. It was the US who put an end to that charade. ---
**Author:** ![Brendon](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/brendon/32/174145_2.png) [@Brendon](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Brendon)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/13 "2021-06-30T04:31:54Z")
> [@DesiInTaipei](#): > > Small corporations in fintech on the other hand will serve people without hukou as well - sirens! Sirens! Run for your lives ! It’s actually kind of the opposite. There’s a reason the remittance companies in the sandbox can only serve foreign workers from three SEA countries, and not other foreigners or Taiwanese people. ---
**Author:** ![Brendon](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/brendon/32/174145_2.png) [@Brendon](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Brendon)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:37am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/14 "2021-06-30T04:37:00Z")
I’m not familiar with the Bitfinex story, but I’d imagine they were unlicensed and were misrepresenting their activities to their bank. So maybe that’s a KYC fail on the bank’s part, but it depends what kind of volume they were doing here. ---
**Author:** ![dan2006](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@dan2006](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/dan2006)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:39am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/15 "2021-06-30T04:39:15Z")
Even companies like Transfer wise and remitly don’t service Taiwan. Hell my home bank can send money to over 100 countries but not Taiwan. I always figure there must be so much red tape fintechs say forget it ---
**Author:** ![bdog](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@bdog](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/bdog)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:41am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/16 "2021-06-30T04:41:21Z")
Best writeup on the net about it. [https://www.kalzumeus.com/2019/10/28/tether-and-bitfinex/](https://www.kalzumeus.com/2019/10/28/tether-and-bitfinex/) [http://media.kalzumeus.com/tether-docs/bitfinex-sues-wells.pdf](http://media.kalzumeus.com/tether-docs/bitfinex-sues-wells.pdf) In this pdf of a court filing, there are details to the exact nature of the relationship between the Taiwan banks, Wells Fargo, and the exchange/s. The dollar flows would not have been small, remember bitcoin is the currency of choice for the underworld. It makes Taiwan banks look either - corrupt and willing to turn a blind eye, or - completely incompetent. ---
**Author:** ![DesiInTaipei](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/desiintaipei/32/95528_2.png) [@DesiInTaipei](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/DesiInTaipei)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:41am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/17 "2021-06-30T04:41:58Z")
> [@dan2006](#): > > Even companies like Transfer wise Just did it yesterday. It only works on specific things due to FSC’s regulations You can load your TW account with a credit card or wire transfer - no problem. Did it yesterday. But only in USD. Your outgoing account needs to be a USD account. CC no hassles other than conversion fees by your bank. You can transfer money into your Taiwan USD - no problem The only issue is liquidity of TWD which is restricted. But who cares - just use global currencies. ---
**Author:** ![DesiInTaipei](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/desiintaipei/32/95528_2.png) [@DesiInTaipei](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/DesiInTaipei)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:42am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/18 "2021-06-30T04:42:43Z")
> [@dan2006](#): > > Hell my home bank can send money to over 100 countries but not Taiwan. I transfer money from india to Taiwan all the time - using swift. As long as you have a USD account here, there’s no issue. ---
**Author:** ![dan2006](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@dan2006](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/dan2006)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:43am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/19 "2021-06-30T04:43:58Z")
Swift yes. But banks in Canada now have a service that is much cheaper. Most Asian banks are covered… Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc but Taiwan has been left out by all of them for a decade now. I always wondered what the catch was with Taiwan ---
**Author:** ![Furious000](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/e19adc/32.png) [@Furious000](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Furious000)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 4:44am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140/20 "2021-06-30T04:44:05Z")
So the system was designed to make the application impossible to graduate from the sandbox to the open market unless you had existing licenses? Makes perfect sense. [Next page](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/difficulties-of-forming-a-local-fintech-company/209140.md?page=2)