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Article 4
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The review of financial reports of a listed company can be categorized into formal examination and substantive examination. The examination shall apply to all listed companies, but the scope of case selection for substantive examination does not extend to listed companies of the financial sector, insurance sector, or securities sector.
Substantive examination adopts a method of selective audits, and the following criteria shall apply in the selection of at least 10 percent of listed companies for annual financial reports, at least 5 percent of listed companies for Q2 and Q3 financial reports, and at least 3 percent of listed companies for Q1 financial reports for review. A listed company shall be selected for review at least once every 5 years.
- The following criteria shall apply to the selection process:
- Financial items:
- There is a relatively substantial year-on-year change in operating revenue, operating income, or net profit before tax.
- The share of the losses of associates and joint ventures accounted for using the equity method reaches a certain monetary amount or reaches a certain percentage of the company's current operating income, or the subsidiaries' total holding of the mother company's equities reaches a certain percentage of the mother company's equities.
- The total amount of current purchase (or sale) with related parties reaches 20 percent or more of the total amount of purchase (or sale) in the financial report, or there is a year-on-year increase of 50 percent or more and the increase reaches 3 percent or more of equity.
- The ending balance of amounts receivable from related parties and advance payment to related parties reaches 10 percent or more of equity, or increases by 50 percent or more in the current quarter and reaches 3 percent or more of equity.
- The accumulated amount of current asset trading (excluding purchase and sale transactions) with related parties accounts for 3 percent or more of the total assets at the end of the period.
- The amount of loans to others at the current quarter increases by 3 percent or more of the equity; or the accumulated amount of loans to others at the end of the period reaches 10 percent or more of equity.
- The amount of endorsements and guarantees at the current quarter increases by 10 percent or more of equity; or the accumulated amount of endorsements and guarantees at the end of the period reaches 30 percent or more of equity.
- The financial ratio is deficient.
- The amount of non-current equity investment accounts for a great share of equity.
- Net worth per share is too low; the net worth means the equity attributable to owners of the parent.
- Non-financial items:
- Resignation of the financial officer.
- Resignation of the accounting officer.
- Resignation of the internal audit officer.
- Resignation of the research and development officer.
- Change of certified public accounts (other than an internal adjustment at the accounting firm).
- Change of directors/supervisors' shareholdings, including shareholdings of their related parties as mentioned in Article 22-2, paragraph 3 of the Securities and Exchange Act.
- Change of directors/supervisor (including independent directors), and resignation of the chairperson or general manager.
- Where the board of directors is authorized to pay compensatory fees for directors/supervisors in accordance with the trade average, the compensatory fee is found to be unreasonable according to the screening criteria.
- The filed report of the most recent month shows that the directors/supervisors' creation of pledge exceeds 50 percent or more of the number of shares actually held by all the directors/supervisors, including pledges and shareholdings of their related parties as mentioned in Article 22-2, paragraph 3 of the Securities and Exchange Act.
- The financial operations of the company are materially affected by any litigation in the most recent year.
- The financial officer or accounting officer is within the second degree kinship with any of the directors/supervisors.
If a company selected for review pursuant to the aforementioned criteria has been selected for review in the previous quarter, the company may be excluded from the selection.- A company that meets any of the following criteria shall be listed as one of the companies that must be reviewed, but may be excluded from the review if an analysis thereof indicates no necessity for the examination:
- A company that is found to have irregularities according to the formal examination of its financial reports.
- A company that has undergone a change in managerial control.
- A company whose scope of business is materially changed.
- A company for which the normal trading method is reinstated for its TWSE listed securities because it has satisfied applicable requirements set forth in the TWSE Operating Rules after the trading of the securities was suspended or placed under an altered trading method due to a change in its managerial control and a material change to its business scope.
- A company that has been in deficit for the most recent 3 consecutive years, and the incremental amount of current pre-tax income as compared to the same period of the preceding fiscal year reaches 30 percent or more of the share capital listed in the financial report. In the case of shares having a par value other than NT$10, for the calculation of the aforementioned 30 percent of share capital, 15 percent of equity shall be substituted.
- A company whose incremental amount of loss before tax in the current fiscal year as compared to the loss or income before tax in in the same period of the preceding fiscal year reaches 30 percent or more of the share capital listed in the financial report. In the case of shares having a par value other than NT$10, for the calculation of the aforementioned 30 percent of share capital, 15 percent of equity shall be substituted.
- A company that meets any of the criteria as specified in item 1, sub-items 3, 4, and 8 of the preceding subparagraph, where the amount in question is huge and the financial ratio is deficient, and the company has not received special audits in the previous quarter.
- A company that issues corporate bonds, and whose repayment ability at maturity is uncertain.
- A company whose cash and cash equivalents account for too high a percentage of the share capital listed in the financial report, and who has no capital expenditure plan.
- A company whose amount of prepayment, or the volatility thereof, is huge or unusual.
- The amount of unrealized loss in the trading of derivatives products reaches NT$100 million and accounts for 3 percent or more of the equity, or the amount of current open interests for trading purposes accounts for 40 percent or more of the share capital listed in the financial report. In the case of shares having a par value other than NT$10, for the calculation of the aforementioned 40 percent of share capital, 20 percent of equity shall be substituted.
- The CPA, in the annual financial report, with respect to equity investment in another enterprise, uses and gives too much weight to audit work of other CPAs. The interim financial report, with respect to equity investment in another enterprise, uses and gives too much weight to review work of other CPAs or to material that has not been reviewed by a CPA.
- A company newly added to the Key Financials Section [of the Market Observation Post System] in the current quarter.
- The receivables and amount of inventory in the financial report account for too high a percentage of the shareholder's equity.
- The receivables past due for 1 year or more in the financial report reach a certain monetary amount or reach a certain percentage of the equity.
- A company whose financial report indicates a change in accounting policy or accounting estimates.
- The amount of the current change in intangible assets accounts for 3% or more of the total assets.
- The discrepancy between the company's own unaudited (unreviewed) figures and the accountant's audited (reviewed) figures of the current operating revenue reaches 5% or more.
- A company as required for review by the TWSE due to other reasons.
- During each selection, the TWSE also randomly chooses companies for review according to the following criteria:
- A company that has not undergone routine regulation, regulation by exception, or substantive review of financial report for the most recent 3 years.
- Companies that have been announced as disposition securities in the most recent quarter by the TWSE.
- Other criteria for random selection.
The formal examination of financial forecasts also applies to all listed companies. Substantive examination adopts a method of selective audits. A company with any of the following matters shall be selected for review, and a test check shall also apply in each quarter depending on the circumstances.
- A listed company that publicizes complete financial forecasts:
- The statement is not updated at the current quarter, but at the following quarter.
- The updated (or corrected) financial forecasts decline by at least 30 percent from the comprehensive income in the original financial forecast, and the amount of decline exceeds NT$200 million.
- A company's own un-audited figures of the comprehensive income, or the comprehensive income audited and certified by the CPA for reporting after the end of the accounting year declines by at least 20 percent from the comprehensive income in the financial forecasts publicized most recently, and the amount of decline reaches NT$30 million and 0.5 percent of the share capital listed in the financial report, and declines by at least 30 percent from the comprehensive income in the original financial forecasts and the amount exceeds NT$200 million. In the case of shares having a par value other than NT$10, for the calculation of the aforementioned 0.5 percent of share capital, 0.25 percent of equity shall be substituted.
- The comprehensive income in the updated (or corrected) financial forecasts changes from surplus to deficit, and the discrepancy exceeds NT$200 million, or the updated (or corrected) comprehensive loss reaches NT$50 million.
- The change of basic accounting assumption is questionable.
- A listed company that publicizes summary financial forecasts:
- The comprehensive income of the current quarter audited or reviewed by the CPA declines by at least 10 percent from the comprehensive income of the current quarter in the financial forecasts published most recently, and the amount of decline exceeds NT$50 million.
- The comprehensive income of the current quarter in the updated (or corrected) financial forecasts declines by at least 10 percent from the comprehensive income of the current quarter in the original financial forecasts, and the amount of decline exceeds NT$ 50 million.
- The comprehensive income of the current quarter in the updated (or corrected) financial forecasts changes from surplus to deficit, and the discrepancy exceeds NT$100 million, or the updated (or corrected) comprehensive loss of the current quarter reaches NT$50 million.
- Where the forecast of comprehensive income is presented in intervals, the calculation for the decline of comprehensive income for the company selected pursuant to the preceding paragraph shall use the arithmetic average of the upper and lower limits for the intervals of the comprehensive income of the current quarter in the original and updated (or corrected) financial forecasts.
The competent authority of the companies selected for review pursuant to the preceding paragraphs may change/adjust the criteria depending on the circumstances.
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Article 6
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During the substantive review of financial reports or financial forecasts, a CPA shall be hired to provide opinions and the CPA's working papers may be requisitioned, when necessary. When a company is listed as a company that must be reviewed pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 2, subparagraph 2, item 5, the CPA's working papers shall be requisitioned, in order to find out whether the certifying CPA audits or reviews the company pursuant to the Regulations Governing Auditing and Certification of Financial Statements by Certified Public Accountants, and generally accepted auditing principles, or relevant Statements of Auditing Standards.
If the CPA is found to have violated the aforementioned regulations after review, relevant factual evidence shall be submitted to the competent authority on a case-by-case basis for further disciplinary actions pursuant to the CPA Act, Securities and Exchange Act, and relevant regulations.
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