| 英文摘要 |
In addition to disciplinary and penalty provisions for unlawful actions by accountants under the Accountants Act in Taiwan, there are also relevant legal regulations in place for specific types of behavior under the Business Entity Accounting Act, Tax Collection Act, Securities and Exchange Act, Company Act, Civil Code, and Criminal Code of the Republic of China. On April 20, 2023, the Taiwan Taipei District Court in Taiwan issued a first-instance judgment in the KY- Pharmally case civil compensation case. It ruled that Deloitte & Touche and two accountants should bear partial compensation liability. The accountants are individually responsible for 25% of the compensation, totaling over 25 billion NTD in compensation, while the accounting firm had joint and several compensation liability. Although this is not the final outcome of the civil litigation, it has sparked discussions across various sectors. The exorbitant compensation amount is expected to change the operational practices of accountants in future professional service cases. This article aims to explore the basis of accountants when issuing expert rationality opinion letters, which relies on other expert reports or assessments conducted by the appointing party. Given that accountants are required to uphold professional competence and practical experience, and in accordance with the Practical Guidelines for the Issuance of Expert Fairness Opinion, Sections 12 and 28, they are required to assess and document, item by item, the procedures for reviewing, querying, calculating, or any other necessary analysis of the other expert reports or assessments used by the appointing party. If artificial intelligence is used as the evaluation method in other expert reports or assessments when accountants issue fairness opinion, what issues may arise? Will be beneficial in defining the legal responsibilities of accountants when issuing fairness opinions in the future.
This article suggests that in a corporate valuation report, if other experts use artificial intelligence for the valuation, the expert should be able to provide the data sources, computational methods, and valuation models used by the artificial intelligence system. The system should be certified by a professional organization. When an accountant can access the expert’s basis for valuation and the reasonableness of the artificial intelligence system’s computational data, it can demonstrate that the professional duty of care has been fulfilled. Sufficient and appropriate evidence should be obtained for the issuance of an opinion letter. If any issues arise, each professional should fulfill their duties and responsibilities without attributing responsibilities that belong to other experts to the accountant. By reasonably allocating responsibilities between accountants and expert report issuers, accountants can avoid becoming the subject of undue litigation, ensuring the applicability and fairness of the law, and thereby helping to ensure that accountants fulfill their duties. |
