Subject to the provisions otherwise set out in Article 158, Article 167-1, Article 186, Article 235-1 and Article 317 of this Act, a company may not, at its own discretion, redeem or buy back any of its outstanding shares, nor may it accept any of its outstanding shares as a security in pledge, unless a shareholder is in liquidation or adjudged bankrupt, in which case, the shares being held by the said shareholder may be bought back by the issuing company at the market price, with the buy-back price payable to the said shareholder to be withheld for off-setting the debt owed to the company by said shareholder prior to the process of the foregoing liquidation or bankruptcy pronouncement.

The shares redeemed or bought back by the issuing company in accordance with the proviso of the preceding Paragraph or the provisions of Article 186 hereof shall be sold at the then current market price within six months. If the shares so redeemed or bought back remain unsold after expiry of the foregoing time limit, such shares shall be deemed as the shares which have never been issued by the company; and under such circumstance, the company shall apply for an alteration of the entries of the then existing corporate registration in respect of such shares accordingly.

Where a majority of the total number of outstanding voting shares or of the total amount of the capital stock of a subordinate company are held by its holding company, the shares of the holding company shall not be purchased nor be accepted as a security in pledge by the said subordinate company. "Where the holding company and its subordinate company as referred to in the preceding Paragraph jointly hold or possess a majority of the total number of outstanding shares or of the total amount of the capital stock of another company, the shares of the said holding company and its subordinate company shall also not be purchased nor be accepted as a security in pledge by the said another company.

Where the responsible person of a company has acted contrary to any provisions set out in the preceding four Paragraphs by redeeming or buy back its outstanding shares, or accepting such shares as the security in pledge, or raising the share price for offsetting its outstanding debt, or reducing the selling price of such shares, he/she shall be liable for the damage to the company.

Unless as otherwise provided for in the law, a company may, upon adoption of a resolution by a majority voting of the directors present at a meeting of its board of directors attended by two-thirds of the directors of the company, buy back its shares in a number not exceeding 5% of the total number of its outstanding shares provided, however, that the total amount of the price for buying back such shares shall not exceed the sum of the amount of its reserved surplus earnings plus the amount of the realized capital reserve. "The shares bought back by the issuing company under the preceding Paragraph shall be assigned or transferred to its employees within three years. If such shares have not been transferred as required after expiry of the foregoing time limit, such shares shall be deemed as the shares which have never been issued; and under this circumstance, the company shall apply for a necessary alteration registration in respect of such shares accordingly. "The issuing company of the shares bought back under Paragraph I of this Article shall not be entitled to exercise the rights of a shareholder in respect of such shares. "Qualification requirements of employees, including the employees of parents or subsidiaries of the company meeting certain specific requirements, entitled to receive shares in accordance with the provision of Paragraph Two, may be specified in the Articles of Incorporation.

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Unless as otherwise provided for in the law or in the Articles of Incorporation, a company may, upon adoption of a resolution by a majority of the directors present at a meeting of the board of directors attended by two-thirds of more of the total number of directors of the company, enter into a share subscription right agreement with its employees whereby the employees may subscribe, within a specific period of time, a specific number of shares of the company. Upon execution of the said agreement, the company shall issue to each employee a share subscription warrant.

The share subscription warrant obtained by any employee of the issuing company shall be non-assignment, except to the heir(s) of the said employee.

Qualification requirements of employees, including the employees of parents or subsidiaries of the company meeting certain specific requirements, entitled to receive share subscription warrant in accordance with the provision of Paragraph One, may be specified in the Articles of Incorporation.

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A company which buys back its shares and assigns or transfers those shares to its employees in accordance with Article 167-1 or other laws may restrain such shares from being assigned or transferred to others within a specific period of time which shall in no case be longer than two years.

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All special shares issued by a company shall be redeemable, provided that the privileges accorded to special shareholders by the Articles of Incorporation shall not be impaired.

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Unless as otherwise provided for in the law, a company may, upon adoption of a resolution by a majority voting of the directors present at a meeting of its board of directors attended by two-thirds of the directors of the company, buy back its shares in a number not exceeding 5% of the total number of its outstanding shares provided, however, that the total amount of the price for buying back such shares shall not exceed the sum of the amount of its reserved surplus earnings plus the amount of the realized capital reserve. "The shares bought back by the issuing company under the preceding Paragraph shall be assigned or transferred to its employees within three years. If such shares have not been transferred as required after expiry of the foregoing time limit, such shares shall be deemed as the shares which have never been issued; and under this circumstance, the company shall apply for a necessary alteration registration in respect of such shares accordingly. "The issuing company of the shares bought back under Paragraph I of this Article shall not be entitled to exercise the rights of a shareholder in respect of such shares. "Qualification requirements of employees, including the employees of parents or subsidiaries of the company meeting certain specific requirements, entitled to receive shares in accordance with the provision of Paragraph Two, may be specified in the Articles of Incorporation.

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A shareholder, who has served a notice in writing to the company expressing his intention to object to such an act prior to the adoption of a resolution at a shareholders' meeting in accordance with the provisions of the preceding article, and also has raised his objection at the shareholders' meeting, may request the company to buy back all of his shares at the then prevailing fair price, provided, however, that this shall not apply if, at the time of adopting a resolution under Item 2, Paragraph 1 of the preceding article, the shareholders' meeting also adopts a resolution for dissolution.

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A fixed amount or ratio of profit of the current year distributable as employees’ compensation shall be definitely specified in the Articles of Incorporation. However, the company’s accumulated losses shall have been covered. "The provisions set out in the preceding Paragraph shall not be applicable to the government operated enterprises, except in the case where special approval has been granted by the authority in charge of the government operated enterprise concerned, and a fixed amount or ratio of profit distributable as employees’ compensation has been definitely specified in the Articles of Incorporation. "A company may, by a resolution adopted by a majority vote at a meeting of board of directors attended by two-thirds of the total number of directors, have the profit distributable as employees’ compensation in the preceding two paragraphs distributed in the form of shares or in cash; and in addition thereto a report of such distribution shall be submitted to the shareholders’ meeting. "A company which has the profit distributed to employees in the form of shares by a resolution of the meeting of board of directors in accordance with the provision of the preceding paragraph may resolve, at the same meeting of the board of directors, to distribute the shares by way of new shares to be issued by the company or existing shares to be re-purchased by the company. "Qualification requirements of employees, including the employees of parents or subsidiaries of the company meeting certain specific requirements, entitled to receive shares or cash in accordance with the provisions of Paragraphs One to Three, may be specified in the Articles of Incorporation.

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When a company is split up or to be consolidated or merged with another company, the Board of Directors shall draft a split-up plan or a contract of consolidation or merger in respect of the matters related to such company split-up plan or the consolidation or merger contract and shall submit the same to a meeting of shareholders. Any shareholder who has expressed his dissension, in writing or verbally with a record before or during the meeting, may waive his voting right and request the company to buy back, shares of the split and consolidated or merged company he holds at the prevailing fair price.

In case the another company referred to in the preceding Paragraph is a newly incorporated company, then the meeting of shareholders of the split company shall be regarded as the promoters meeting of the said another company, and election of the directors and supervisors of such new company may be conducted at that meeting. "The provisions of Article 187 and Article 188 of this Act shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the circumstance specified in the preceding Paragraph.

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