The nation's certified public accountants and underwriters are now held legally accountable for ensuring the accuracy of listed companies' financial reports they have certified following the emergence of several corporate scandals since late June, 2004.
"In order to maintain order in the market, all accountants will be held responsible for their duties in conducting checks into the finances of listed companies," Financial Supervisory Commission vice chairman Lu Daung-yen (
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
To safeguard investors' rights, the commission imposed penalties on a total of 15 certified public accountants for their professional negligence in certifying financial documents of such companies as Procomp Informatics Co (
The 15 accountants, who are mostly from well-known accounting firms including KPMG Certified Public Accountants, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and the Lan Jai Certified Public Accountants, were given punishments ranging from verbal warnings to a two-year suspension.
Among them, KPMG's Tsai Tien-yuan (
For violating Article 39 of the Securities and Exchange Law (
Despite complaints from accountants, the private sector lauded the financial regulator's move to put the onus on accountants, who will now have to take a more prudent attitude in reviewing listed companies' finances, including asset quality, cash flow and business performance.
"If financial reports certified by accountants aren't trustworthy, the nation's capital markets could collapse," said Liu Jen (
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
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