論黃金股之適用及界限

A Study on the Application and Limitation of the Golden Share

我國經濟部長期以來嚴守股東平等原則，故公司不得發行違反股東平等原則的黃金股，直至民國104年及107年公司法修正後全面放寬非公開發行公司發行特別股的種類，期盼能達到企業自治的修法方向，自此非公發公司可以依照公司法第157條或第356條之7規定，依照公司需求及若干目的自由設計並發行特別股，但管制鬆綁與實現公司法上的契約自由，也將與公司治理中追求保障小股東或是負責人權責相符等概念產生衝突，故修法後的特別股發行與權利行使不可能毫無限制，尤其是就一定事項具有否決權的黃金股。黃金股係指可以對一定事項行使否決權的股份，屬於特別股之一種，除了幫助各國國營事業的民營化，也有利於公司募資及企業傳承，並可作為強化公司控制權與敵意併購的防禦措施，但是其擁有對一定事項的否決權，黃金股股東行使該權利時將否決其他股東的意志，對公司的控制力不可小覷；本文僅針對特別股中的黃金股做出研究，首先回顧並介紹黃金股的發行沿革與發行目的，並探討我國公司法對於非公發股份有限公司發行黃金股的規範與可能面臨的問題，惟黃金股在我國資本市場上存在時間並不長，故有賴比較法上的見解提供我國參考，故本文將進一步介紹美國法上近期關於黃金股行使否決權的案例，藉以思考並探討我國未來股份有限公司發行黃金股及黃金股行及黃金股權利行使的界限。

The Ministry of Economic Affairs had strictly followed the principle of equality of shareholders, so companies in Taiwan can issue preferred stocks but shouldn't issue golden shares which allow its shareholders to hold a veto power. In order to achieve the goal of corporate autonomy, the recent amendments of Taiwan Company Act in 2015 and 2018 permit non-public offering companies issue various types of preferred stocks according to the Company Act Section 157 or Section 356-7. Since then, private company may freely design and issue various classes of preferred stocks which ever meeting its needs and certain purposes. However, the ideas to deregulate the Company Act and the freedom of contract are inevitably conflict with the traditional idea of corporate governance. However, the corporate governance is designed for protecting minority shareholders and asking every director be accountable in a company. Therefore, the issuance of various classes of preferred stocks cannot be boundless, especially the golden shares that own veto rights to outvote all other shares in certain specified circumstances. Being one kind of preferred stocks, golden shares have been designed to help the privatization of national companies, the fund raising of common companies, the extension of family legacy, and also to protect from the hostile takeover. Because this kind of preferred stock is very influential and beneficial, it can be expected to become popular after the deregulation. Hence, this article conducts a research on golden shares in Taiwan. It first introduces the purpose to issue the golden shares and its evolution of issuance, and then discusses the regulations of Taiwan Company Act regarding to golden shares by non-public offering companies. Further, the article will present the recent cases of golden shares exercising veto rights in the US to help to understand the limitation of golden share. After comparing to those cases in the U.S., we might contemplate the benefits and boundaries of issuing the golden shares in Taiwan.