- 學位論文
沙賓奧克斯利法案之遵循影響 -以美國一家上市公司為例
A Case Study of Sarbanes-Oxley Act Compliance
摘要
近年來美國國內一連串上市公司如Enron、 Tyco、 WorldCom、Adelphia等知名企業連續爆發公司舞弊及不法情事，繼而引發美國證券交易市場之巨幅震盪，美國國會因此通過了號稱本世紀改革幅度最大的會計改革法案- 沙賓奧克斯利法案 (Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 )。 該法案於2002年7月30日由美國總統公佈實施, 其立法原由顯然是針對上述知名企業之公司舞弊及會計醜聞所引發投資大眾對於公司會計及財務報導產生信心危機而來。公開發行公司之執行長(CEOs)及財務長(CFOs)面對投資大眾日益擴增之不信任感，必須掌握此改革之契機。 本論文首先彙整並分析該法案之內容以及美國證管會及證券交易市場為因應該法案所發佈有關公司治理之相關規範，並對該法案提供一個概括性之說明及闡述在該法案所要求之公司治理環境下，有關公司財務報導、財務報表之揭露及公司自行評估內部控制制度之相關法令規定。此外本論文以美國一家上市公司為例作個案研究，經由該個案遵循沙賓奧克斯利法案之實際過程探討一般美國上市公司在遵循該法案時所面臨之挑戰、衝擊及因應之道。 研究結果顯示沙賓奧克斯利法案的確對於公司財務報導供應鏈之上下游產生重大衝擊，尤其是首當其衝之公司管理階層、董事會成員及公司財務報表之查核簽證會計師，在該法案所建構之公司治理環境下，其傳統角色受到重新定位，相互之間之關係亦受到影響。研究結果同時亦認為沙賓奧克斯利法案確實增加了釵h新的規範，同時並強化上市公司之財務報導責任，然而其要求之財務報導本質並未改變，該法案只是企圖在公司治理法令之架構下，要求公司管理階層、董事會成員及簽證會計師能更緊密的配合，進而提高公司財務報導之可靠性並對投資大眾負責，而遵循該法案對公司而言具有正面之意義，在健全之公司治理架構下定能強化公司財務報導之可靠性與透明度。
並列摘要
The recent stock market plunge and the ongoing revelations by major U.S. corporations such as Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Adelphia and others of substantial accounting and operating irregularities gave rise to the most sweeping securities law changes in decades of the United States, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the Act) was enacted on July 30, 2002, largely in response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals involving the above some of the most prominent companies in the United States. These scandals have resulted in a great loss of public trust in corporate accounting and reporting practices. CEOs and CFOs of public companies must firmly grasp the degree and significance of distrust that now exists. The thesis first summarize thousands of pages of the Act and the resulting new SEC rules and interpretive commentary along with the new listing standards regarding the corporate governance rules promulgated by the market rulers. It will also provide a foundation for understanding the new responsibilities for corporate governance, management reporting, financial statement disclosures, management assessment of internal controls, and the changed responsibilities of auditors. Further, the thesis will then focus on the compliance implementation and its impact, challenge and possible solutions to achieve the corporate governance requirements. As far as the research methodology is concerned, a case study of a NASDAQ company would be applied. Result shows that the Act did have huge impact to each participant within the corporate financial reporting supply chain especially to the board of directors, management and internal and external auditors. Each of their roles had been repositioned and redefined to reflect their new responsibilities under the new corporate governance environment. Result also shows that Sarbanes-Oxley did require lots of new actions for the public companies to achieve the objectives but it did not change the nature of the corporate financial reporting as well as the management’s responsibility. Public companies now have the chance to revaluate themselves through the statutory requirements. And, the Act not only provide the opportunity but also a challenge to the management of the Company as well as its audit committee, auditors and board of directors to work more closely together than ever to provide assurance on its financial reporting process and information shared with the investors Management of the public companies should discuss with their independent directors board, external auditor and attorney in details regarding the new requirements derived from the Sarbanes-Oxley and related regulations. They should ask their securities lawyer to explain all significant Sarbanes-Oxley sections as well as the rules of SEC and Markets through face to face meetings and make sure each participant fully understand their new character and responsibility during the post Sarbanes-Oxley era. This is essential factor to achieve the goal of compliance of the law and to establish a quality corporate financial reporting.