The Bank of Taiwan Kabushiki-gaisha, the predecessor of Bank of Taiwan, was established in 1899 as Taiwan’s Central Bank during Japanese ruling period. It issued local currency and provided financial resource to enterprises. The Bank of Taiwan (BOT) was established on May 20, 1946 as the first government-owned bank following the island's restoration to the Republic of China in 1945. During much of its operating history, it has been under the administration of the Taiwan Provincial Government. Following the phase out of the Taiwan Provincial Government on Dec. 21, 1998, the Bank was subsequently taken over by the central government of the Republic of China and placed under the administration of the Ministry of Finance, in accordance with the regulations on government-owned financial institutions. BOT has been judicial person under Banking Law since 1985. Effective July 1, 2003, BOT became a corporate organization under Company Law. In accordance with the regulations upon financial holding corporations, on January 1, 2008, Taiwan Financial Holdings was established on the basis of the share transfer .Meanwhile the Bank has become a subsidiary of Taiwan Financial Holdings. On January 2, 2008 the Bank split its Department of Securities and Department of Life Insurance to organize the other two subsidiaries of Taiwan Financial Holdings, BankTaiwan Securities Co., Ltd. and BankTaiwan Life Insurance Co., Ltd. The current amount of capital of the Bank is one hundred and nine billions of New Taiwan Dollars.