Bank of Taiwan announced on 22 September 2026 that it had opened its high-asset business that day, leading with a designated custody service for physical gold (黃金現貨指定保管業務). The release places the service beside a team that combines the bank’s investment, trust, insurance, credit, foreign exchange and gold lines with BankTaiwan Life Insurance and BankTaiwan Securities, for succession, cross-border asset arrangements and family office governance.
Bank of Taiwan’s gold passbook (黃金存摺) records a holding as a weight on the bank’s books. Bars leave it only by conversion and withdrawal, and under the passbook terms a withdrawn bar cannot be returned to the passbook or sold back to the bank. The custody service keeps physical metal with Bank of Taiwan, and what the client then holds is set by the class of bailment the custody agreement uses under Taiwan’s Civil Code.
| Civil Code basis | Custody record identifies | Title | Bank returns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art. 589, bailment | The bars deposited | Stays with the client | The same bars |
| Art. 603-1, commingled bailment | A quantity, mixed with other depositors’ or the bank’s own metal only with the client’s consent | Depositors in common, pro rata to the quantities deposited | Same kind, quality and quantity from the mixed holding |
| Art. 602, consumption deposit | A quantity | Passes to Bank of Taiwan on receipt | Same kind, quality and quantity, under the loan-for-consumption rules |
The release names the service for designated custody, 指定保管, and does not set out the custody agreement. That agreement fixes the class of bailment, whether the record lists bars by serial number, and whether metal in custody can be sold back to Bank of Taiwan without first being withdrawn.
The release fixes the launch date, the client class and the service name. Eligibility as a high-asset client falls under the Financial Supervisory Commission’s 2020 regulation on bank products and services for high-asset customers, and bar formats, vault location, fees and minimum holding fall under Bank of Taiwan’s service agreement.