美國證券交易法及外國公司問責法對於外國發行人之監管與發展

The Supervision of Foreign Private Issuers and Its Development Under the U.S. Securities Laws and the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act

本文第一部分介紹美國對於外國發行人的監管，主要體現於上市申請、報告義務及公司治理三方面。本文第二部分說明由於中國大陸法規的限制，赴美上市的中國大陸公司所聘任的會計師事務所向來無法讓美國公開公司會計監督委員會（PCAOB）檢查，而在瑞幸咖啡財務報告不實事件爆發之後，美國通過了外國公司問責法案（HFCA法案），要求外國發行人應盡特別的揭露義務，若連續三年都被認定為「HFCA法案所涵蓋之發行人」，則可能從美國證券交易所下市。美國PCAOB也根據該法列出許多無法被檢查的會計師事務所，然而中國大陸政府與美國PCAOB於2022年8月26日簽訂合作協議，因此，美國PCAOB需要在2022年底之前重新評估其決定。另外，中國大陸科技公司所倚賴的可變利益實體架構也產生爭議，中國大陸政府認為該等科技公司透過經營線上業務而持有許多中國大陸使用者的個人資訊，並可能包含政府單位的機密資訊，有個人隱私及國家安全的疑慮，因此修法要求該等科技公司赴國外上市前必須經過安全審查，並取得相關政府機關批准。本文最後介紹近期赴美上市的中國大陸及我國公司的公開說明書內容，該等我國公司擁有中國大陸子公司或部分收入來自於中國大陸市場，因此也有義務按照美國證券交易委員會意見函範本做出相應揭露。文末並以我國對於KY公司的管制以及近期的修法結尾。

The first part of this article introduces the supervision of foreign private issuers in the United States, which is mainly reflected in three aspects, including listing application, reporting obligations and corporate governance. Although these requirements are not as strict as those imposed on U.S. domestic issuers, they are still effective measures. The second part of this article discusses that due to the restrictions imposed by the PRC regulations, the accounting firms retained by Chinese companies listed on the U.S. stock exchanges have always been unable to comply with the PCAOB regulations and allow PCAOB to inspect them. After Luckin Coffee scandal, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCA Act) was enacted in December 2021 to require foreign private issuers to disclose additional information, and if they are identified as issuers identified under the HFCA Act for three consecutive years, they may be delisted from the U.S. stock exchanges. PCAOB, pursuant to the HFCA Act, identified a list of auditors based in China or Hong Kong that fall into such category. That said, the PRC government and PCAOB entered into the statement of protocol on August 26, 2022, and as such, PCAOB is now required to reassess its determinations by the end of 2022. In addition, the VIE structure relied on by Chinese technology companies has also been challenged because the Chinese government believes that these technology companies are able to have access to personal information of many Chinese users through online services and APPs, and it may even contain confidential information of the Chinese government bodies. Due to data privacy and national security concerns, the Chinese government amended relevant laws to require technology companies to undergo a security review and obtain approval from relevant government authorities before applying for listing on a foreign stock exchange. The last part of this article reviews the disclosure of a number of Chinese and Taiwanese companies that have recently been listed in the United States. Such Taiwanese companies either have subsidiaries in China or generate revenue from the Chinese market, so they are also obliged to make corresponding disclosures in accordance with the Sample Letter. This article then briefly discusses Taiwan's supervision over foreign issuers and recent amendments (and an announcement to amend) to relevant regulations led by the FSC.