Amended Article

Title:

Regulations Governing Approval of Certified Public Accountants to Audit and Attest to the Financial Reports of Public Companies 

Amended Date: 2024.02.02 
Article 3 The first time a joint CPA firm or incorporated CPA firm applies to conduct the auditing and attesting business for the financial report of a public company, it shall file the application and its attachments (Attachment 1) with the Financial Supervisory Commission ("FSC") for approval.
The application of a joint CPA firm shall be filed using that firm's name, and affixed with the signature or seal of that firm's responsible person.
The application of an incorporated CPA firm shall be affixed with the seal of that firm and the signature or seal of its chairperson.
If the application documentation of a joint CPA firm or incorporated CPA firm is incomplete and it cannot make supplementation in full by the deadline prescribed by the FSC, the FSC may reject its application.
Article 4 CPAs conducting business of auditing and attesting to financial reports of public companies, and the joint CPA firm or incorporated CPA firm to which they belong, shall comply with the following provisions:
1. The CPA firm's CPAs conducting the business of auditing and attesting to financial reports of public companies shall have at least 5 years of practice experience in attestation to financial reports or in actually assisting in the work of attestation to financial reports, and may not number less than three persons.
2. In the most recent year prior to the application date, the practicing CPAs shall have already participated in continuing professional education hours as specified in Article 5, paragraph 1 of the Regulations Governing CPA Continuing Professional Education.
3. There shall be no less than six audit assistants, no less than two-thirds of whom possess the qualifications set forth in Article 18, paragraph 1, subparagraph 1 of the Certified Public Accountant Act, or have graduated from the accounting, banking, insurance, commerce, public finance and taxation, economics, business administration, or international trade related department of an institution at the junior college level or higher, or have passed the senior examination for accountants or auditors; and no less than one-third of whom are graduates of an accounting institute or university accounting department or program and have passed the CPA examination or the senior examination for accountants or auditors, or have graduated from the accounting, banking, insurance, commerce, public finance and taxation, economics, business administration, or international trade related department of an institution at the junior college level or higher and engaged in auditing work at a CPA firm for two full years.
4. The practice of a practicing CPA shall not have been suspended by any disposition under the Certified Public Accountant Act, the Securities and Exchange Act, or other acts or regulations, for which the suspension period has not yet been completed.
5. The firm shall have a common office.
6. The amount of authorized capital and amount of insurance purchased by an incorporated CPA firm shall comply with the relevant provisions of the Certified Public Accountant Act.
7. The CPA firm shall adopt a quality management system in accordance with the Standards on Quality Management (TWSQM) issued by the Accounting Research and Development Foundation.
A CPA who was approved to conduct the business of auditing and attesting to financial reports of public companies before the enforcement of the 26 October 2020 amendment to these Regulations shall be exempted from the requirement regarding experience set out in subparagraph 1 of the preceding paragraph.
Article 5 Under any of the following circumstances, the FSC may deny approval for an application to conduct the business of auditing and attesting to financial reports of public companies:
1. Non-compliance with the provisions of the preceding article.
2. It is found that the quality management system of the CPA firm is not effectively implemented, without legitimate reason.
3. A practicing CPA has violated laws or regulations, or the CPA code of professional ethics, and the circumstances are serious.
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Article 6 Unless otherwise provided in the laws or regulations, a CPA shall conduct the business of auditing and attesting to financial reports of public companies in accordance with the Standards on Auditing (TWSA).
The audit report issued for auditing and attestation referred to in the preceding paragraph shall state the name, address, and telephone number of the CPA firm, the reference number of the FSC approval letter, and the name, and signature or seal, of the auditor, and the date; if the CPA firm is an incorporated CPA firm, it shall also affix its seal.