I’d like to invest some money in the Taiwan stock market (yeah, yeah, I’m crazy, etc.). Anyway, what’s the best way for me, as a foreigner, to do this.
Just drop into your local securities office and enquire about their policies. We use the company Polaris and they have offices all over Taipei so there should be one near you if you live in the city. Our account is under my wife’s name, who is Taiwanese, but I believe that securities companies are trying to encourage foreign investment so you may be lucky.
You will find that alot of Taiwanese engage in Day Trading rather than mid - long term investing but this involves sitting in front of a monitor for hours waiting for a slight rise in the markets. Drive me crazy that would.
You can only buy shares in “Tickets” of one thousand. So for example one ticket of TSMC shares will currently cost about 60000 NT.
Good luck gambling with your money. We just bought chunks of shares as we saw fit and finally it is starting to bear some serious fruits (up about $US 20000) But be prepared to sit around for along time with the value down about the same.
You might also consider opening a brokerage account in your native country. The two that I’ve used can trade shares on any market, as far as I know – I’ve bought Korean shares (not ADRs, but shares that are actually on the Seoul stock market) in Hanglas, and just bought some stock in UTSI, a Taiwanese company that is traded on Nasdaq.
One difficulty is that some brokerages in the U.S. insist on a U.S. address, so you might need to have a friendly relative back home to whom you can have (at least) your end-of-year 1099 tax form sent.
My 2 cents:
You can open an account here, but you will need additional info and a friend with at least NT$1m in annual income vouching for your taxes.
Moreover, margin speculation, be it long margin or shorts, are not allowed for foreigners. (But don’t use margin anyways as it carries a lopsided risk profile).
Most securities houses should be able to help.
[quote=“Mr He”]My 2 cents:
You can open an account here, but you will need additional info and a friend with at least NT$1m in annual income vouching for your taxes.
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Rubbish, you don’t need anyone - just have an ARC.
Firstly, I have a job here with a local company. I’m also considering the idea of investing some money in the local stock market… I understand that I need to register my self somewhere and then open an account with one of the brokers like FuBang. Here’re my questions:
what’s the exact procedure do to this ?
to whom/which establishment do I need to register myself with ?
and what’s what local security office that you guys are talking about ? also what’s ARC ??
sorry, I’m a complete newbie in this and please, enlighten me with your wisdom. 
ARC = taiwan resident card - are you a resident or a tourist? If your a tourist - you can still try your luck.
You need to go to a bank that will be your broker and they can tell you where to go to register with the Taiwan SEC (securities and exchange commission). The bank might have to make a few phone calls to find out where you need to go since Taiwanese need not register. Don’t take no for an answer - just say thanks and go to the next broker/bank.
ok, now I got it, ARC = Alien Residence Certificate !! only saw it now(weird use of the work ‘alien’, makes me think of the film) thanks gazza. I will give it a try
I Live in the UK i want to invest in Taiwan, I need help please
my nos is +447932533435 name phillip