公司法上以實施員工庫藏股方式買回員工持股之研究

A Study of the Buyback of Employee-Held Stocks in the Form of Treasury Stocks under the Company Act

依據公司法第163條股份自由轉讓原則之規定，公司之股份轉讓不得以章程禁止或限制之，惟公司法第167條之1係股份禁止回籠原則之例外，公司得以實施員工庫藏股為原因買回其股份，然究竟如何實施方適法，於實務上容有疑義。首先，須辨明公司得否與員工以契約約定，於員工離職時由公司買回自己股份？是否得以公司法第167條之1為買回之依據？實務上在認定公司得以公司法第167條之1為買回員工持股之法律依據的前提下，又產生另一爭議－董事會決議時點。按公司法第167條之1之規定，公司買回自己股份，應以董事會特別決議決之，惟董事會決議做成時點，究應落在何時，實務上對此見解不一。本文將逐一探討股份自由轉讓原則之起源、股份禁止回籠原則及其例外，並釐清公司與員工簽署股份買回契約並買回股份是否適法，以及公司未履行該買回協議之法律效果。更進一步，本文將就其他國家之相關規範做觀察比較，探討在國際潮流下，我國是否應給予公司在買回股份上更多之空間。

According to the principle of free transferability of shares in Article 163 of the Company Law, the company’s share transfer shall not be prohibited or restricted by the articles of incorporation. However, in accordance with Article 167-1 of the Company Law, which is an exception to the principle of prohibition of repurchasing shares, the company can implement treasury shares to buy back its shares. The processes to implement it and methodologies for how to comply with the procedures and laws is doubtful in practice. First of all, one question considers whether there is any legal basis for agreement between the company and its employees to buy back the company’s shares on the condition that the employee leaves his job. It is unclear whether it is lawful to use Article 167-1 of the Company Law as the legal basis to enforce the buyback agreement. In addition, when a company is going to buy back its own shares, it should be decided by a resolution of the board of directors. However, courts have conflict opinions regarding the timing for the board of directors to make the resolution, which causes the application of the law inconsistently. This article will discuss the origin of the principle of free transferability of shares, detail the principle of prohibition of buyback of shares and its exceptions, clarify the legality for the company and its employees to enter into and enforce a share buyback agreement, and explore the legal effect of a company’s failure to enforce a share agreement under Article 167-1 of the Company Law. Furthermore, this article will make observations and comparisons on foreign legislations and case laws. In doing so, we can explore the benefits and disadvantages regarding whether Taiwan should give our companies more room to buy back shares based on the international trends.