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The Legislative Yuan passed the third reading of an amendment to the “Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Act” on December 7, 2007. The amendment was drafted with the benefit of considerable input from various government agencies (including the Financial Supervisory Commission, Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs) and the accounting industry. During the process, the legal profession had doubts about articles that would allow CPAs to represent clients in administrative litigation proceedings, and successfully got legislators to vote in favor of a "reconsideration" (a sort of veto procedure available to the legislature under the ROC Constitution), thus requiring rewording of one article; in the end, legislators were able to help the CPAs and lawyers to iron out their differences, and the amendment was smoothly passed into law.
Many sections of the Certified Public Accountant Act had not been amended for 30 years, so some of its provisions were out of date and at variance with international trends. To address concerns that the outdated CPA Act might affect the development of the CPA profession, the FSC drafted a comprehensive amendment and forwarded it to the Executive Yuan for review on July 13, 2005. The key points of this amendment as passed on December 7 are as follows:
1. Improvements to the practice environment:
(1) Diversification of organizational types, and clarification of CPA firm liability: The amended Act includes a new article that allows for the possibility of establishing CPA firms with the status of a legal person. This new article was drafted with reference to recent international trends in this area. In addition, to solve the uncertain status of joint accounting firms and clarify who actually bears liability at such firms, the law expressly provides that joint accounting firms are organized as partnerships, and has added a new category of firm called "cosignatory CPA firms" to stay in line with the actual state of practice in the field of accounting.
(2) Introduction of a CPA Liability Insurance System: The amended Act clearly requires CPA firms organized as legal persons to buy business liability insurance, while such insurance remains optional for individual and joint CPA firms.
(3) Heavier penalties for illegal practice: The law imposes heavier penalties upon those who provide CPA services without obtaining a CPA certificate and those who lend out their certificates for use by unlicensed parties. This change has been adopted to enhance the social image of CPAs.
2. Improving the quality of practice:
(1) Strengthening CPAs’ independence: CPAs who undertake management consulting or provide services other than financial report certification, or who do not satisfy the standards of independence as set out by the competent authority, may not certify company financial reports.
(2) Promoting the professionalism of CPAs: The pre-amendment CPA Act already required that a person possess two years of experience in examination as an assistant in CPA business offices. This requirement remains in effect, and in addition a CPA may now also choose to attend pre-job training. In the future, pre-job training will put equal emphasis on basic coursework and practical training.
(3) Enhancing the fairness of disciplinary sanctions for CPAs: Revisions have been made regarding what constitutes negligence on the part of CPAs when auditing and certifying financial reports, and it is now expressly provided that representatives from industry, government, and academia should each account for 1/3 of the members of the CPA Discipline Committee.
3. Srengthening the self-regulatory function of the CPA associations:
While maintaining the current organization of Taiwan's various CPA associations, the amended law requires integration of many of the functional committees that are now duplicated under the CPA Associations of Taiwan Province, Taipei, and Kaohsiung, as well as the National Federation of CPA Associations (NFCPAA). Committees in charge of matters that are national in scope (e.g. CPA performance assessments, professional ethics, discipline, and professional education) will now be unified under the NFCPAA. In addition, the NFCPAA will also set up a new professional liability assessment committee. This functional division of labor and mutual support among the regional associations and NFCPAA will enable them to operate more efficiently and fulfill their self-regulatory function more effectively.
In broad overview, the purpose of this comprehensive amendment of the CPA Act is to establish a practice enviornment which is more flexible and in line with international standards, and strengthen the self-regulatory function which the profession should have. In order to increase the quality of CPA financial report certifications, the Act now has stricter requirements regarding the independence of CPAs. The completion of the amendment will do much to make the domestic CPA practice environment healthier, enhance the quality of financial information and protect investor interests. This marks a new milestone for the CPA profession in Taiwan and accelerates our efforts to construct a capital market consistent with international trends. The amendment was promulgated by the President on 26 December 2007 and put into force on 28 December 2007.
行政院金融監督管理委員會證券期貨局每日訊息（1月07日）
壹、公開發行公司等動態
一、預計1月8日申報生效。
二、不繼續公開發行案件.
三、行政院金融監督管理委員會昨( )核備臺灣證券交易所股份有限公司函報同意尖點科技股份有限公司申請其已公開發行並已上櫃股票計普通股95,469,127股，每股面額10元，總額新臺幣954,691,270元上市。
四、台灣航業股份有限公司(上市公司，證券代號：2617)申請廢止前經行政院金融監督管理委員會（以下簡稱金管會）於96年4月14日以金管證一字第0960014959號函同意申報受讓陽明海運股份有限公司新發行之普通股69,627,226股以增資發行普通股乙案，業經金管會同意廢止在案。
五、和鑫光電股份有限公司申報發行96年度員工認股權憑證65,000單位，每單位得認購股數為1,000股，計得認購普通股65,000,000股，並以發行新股為履約方式乙案，該公司考量發行時效，申請撤回該案，業經行政院金融監督管理委員會准予撤回在案。
六、行政院金融監督管理委員會昨（）核備臺灣證券交易所股份有限公司函報同意詮欣股份有限公司申請已公開並已上櫃發行股票計普通股72,044,028股，每股面額10元，總額新臺幣720,440,280元上市。
七、陽明海運股份有限公司(上市公司，證券代號：2609)申請廢止前經行政院金融監督管理委員會（以下簡稱金管會）於96年4月14日以金管證一字第09600149591號函同意申報受讓台灣航業股份有限公司新發行之普通股51,575,723股以增資發行普通股乙案，業經金管會同意廢止在案。
附件列表:
行政院金融監督管理委員會證券期貨局每日訊息（1月4日）
壹、公開發行公司等動態
一、預計1月7日生效。
二、不繼續公開發行案件。
三、皇翔建設股份有限公司（上市公司，證券代號2545）前經本會以96年10月18日金管證一字第0960055785號函同意申報現金增資發行普通股30,000,000股，每股面額10元，總額新臺幣300,000,000元乙案，因該公司未依公司法第273條第2項規定之應載事項辦理相關公告，而有同法第273條第3項之情事，業經本會依發行人募集與發行有價證券處理準則第11條第1項第6款規定予以廢止在案。
四、新東亞微電子股份有限公司（興櫃公司，證券代號8351）申請撤回96年12月27日申報私募股票及其嗣後無償配股取得之股份補辦公開發行普通股116,865股，每股面額10元，總額新臺幣1,168,650元乙案，業經行政院金融監督管理委員會准其撤回在案。
五、行政院金融監督管理委員會昨（ ）日核備臺灣證券交易所股份有限公司函報同意佳龍科技工程股份有限公司申請其已公開發行並已上櫃股票計普通股82,093,866股，每股面額10元，總額新臺幣820,938,660元上市乙案。
六、行政院金融監督管理委員會昨( )核備臺灣證券交易所股份有限公司函報同意譁裕實業股份有限公司申請已公開發行並已上櫃股票計普通股70,810,306股，每股面額10元，總額新臺幣708,103,060元上市乙案。
七、行政院金融監督管理委員會昨( )核備臺灣證券交易所股份有限公司函報同意嘉聯益科技股份有限公司申請已公開發行並已上櫃股票計普通股314,217,360股，每股面額10元，總額新臺幣3,142,173,600元上市乙案。
八、行政院金融監督管理委員會昨( )核備臺灣證券交易所股份有限公司函報同意炎洲股份有限公司申請已公開發行並已上櫃發行普通股146,179,562股，每股面額10元，總額新臺幣1,461,795,620元上市。
九、行政院金融監督管理委員會昨()核備臺灣證券交易所股份有限公司函報同意聯茂電子股份有限公司申請已公開發行並已上櫃股票計普通股275,775,681股，每股面額10元，總額新臺幣2,757,756,810元上市乙案。
貳、大華證券股份有限公司業務人員違反證券管理法令，金管會依證券交易法規定處分
一、裁罰時間：97年1月 日
二、受裁罰之對象：大華證券股份有限公司(以下簡稱大華證券)前高級業務員程政剛。
三、裁罰之法令依據：證券商負責人與業務人員管理規則第5條及第12條第3項第2款。
四、違反事實理由：大華證券前高級業務員程政剛持偽造之私立輔仁大學學士學位證書據以報考高級業務員，及以此偽造之大學文憑取得測驗合格之高級業務員資格登記於該公司執行業務，未符合證券商負責人與業務人員管理規則第5條所定證券商高級業務員資格，違反證券商負責人與業務人員管理規則第12條第3項第2款規定。
五、裁罰結果：依證券交易法第56條規定，命令該公司對前高級業務員程政剛予以解除執行職務之處分。
附件列表:
行政院金融監督管理委員會（以下簡稱為金管會） 日前對第一產物保險股份有限公司作出處分，金管會於一般業務檢查時，發現該公司銷售保險商品及辦理強制汽車責任保險業務時，違反保險法相關法令規定，處罰鍰新臺幣84萬元整。
一、裁罰時間：97年1月7日
二、受裁罰之對象：第一產物保險股份有限公司
三、裁罰之法令依據：保險法第171條、強制汽車責任保險法第48條第4項
四、違反事實理由：
(一) 該公司透過大眾銀行銷售「平安福」專案保險商品之要保書，有擅自修改及變更原審查通過內容，未報經本會完成審查程序，核與「保險商品銷售前程序作業準則」第20條規定不符，違反保險法第144條第1項規定。
(二) 該公司經營強制汽車責任保險之承保業務，未於保險契約成立後5日內，將承保資料傳輸至保險事業發展中心，違反強制汽車責任保險法第19條第2項規定。
(三) 該公司辦理強制汽車責任保險之理賠業務，未依規定辦理理賠，核與強制汽車責任保險承保及理賠作業處理辦法第6條規定不符，違反強制汽車責任保險法第46條規定。
五、裁罰結果：經衡酌情節，依保險法第171條及強制汽車責任保險法第48條第4項規定，合計處罰鍰新臺幣84萬元整。
六、其他說明事項：
（一）金管會呼籲，保險業如須修改保險單條款、要保書或重新釐訂保險費，仍應確實遵行相關審查程序，以免觸法。
（二）強制汽車責任保險之政策性目標在於使「汽車交通事故受害人得以迅速獲得基本保障」，各保險公司應確實遵行強制汽車責任保險法相關法令規定辦理承保及理賠業務，讓保險給付更為合理且避免浮濫，俾期彰顯立法意旨。
歡迎使用行政院金融監督管理委員會電子報資訊。引用時請註明資料來源及確保資料之完整，不得任意增刪，亦不得做商業使用，並請依著作權法相關規定辦理。