Related party transaction disclosures: a study of leading listed firms in Taiwan and the U.S.A.

Abstract

關係人交易常被視為內部人創造自我利益的管道。經濟合作發展組織(OECD)呼籲亞洲各國應強化公司治理，抑制過當之關係人交易，以保障非控制股東之權益與資本市場之公平健全。由於亞洲地區常見家族企業及國營企業，因此多數外部股東在無法實際參與公司經營與治理的情況下，即需仰賴國家立法機關建構一套完善的關係人交易揭露制度，除事前揭露充足資訊以利公司內部治理單位審核及監督外，事後亦提供有利投資人判斷的質性與量化資訊，減輕資訊不對稱的疑慮。 本研究首先分析我國與美國關係人交易揭露制度之規範差異。其次，本研究取2012年臺灣及美國排名前二十大營業收入之上市公司為樣本，將臺灣上市公司之關係人交易揭露資訊與美國樣本公司兩相比較。最後，將臺灣上市公司於2013年首次適用IFRS前後期之關係人交易揭露資訊進行比較，以呈現我國關係人交易資訊揭露程度的變化趨勢。 本研究發現，美國樣本公司所揭露的關係人交易資訊係以文字敘述方式為主，其內容涵蓋關係人交易政策、關係人利益衝突等說明，並提供關係人交易發生原因及交易條件之敘述，與我國樣本公司相比投資人所能取得的判斷資訊較為充足。此外，我國自從於2013年採用IFRS後，臺灣樣本公司所揭露之關係人交易資訊，相較原一般公認會計原則下的揭露更趨籠統簡化，多數公司不再提供關係人名單，亦減少列示關係人交易對象及描述交易內容之篇幅，部分公司甚至省略關係人交易條件之說明，導致投資人更難從關係人交易附註揭露取得攸關資訊，以判斷公司關係人交易對營運風險及投資風險之影響。Related party transactions (RPTs) are often deemed as a way of self-dealing by insiders. OECD (2009) calls Asian countries to fight abusive RPTs focusing on disclosure and the board/stockholders approval system. As most non-controlling stockholders cannot participate in company operating activities and routine governance, it is important to build an appropriate and efficient RPT approval and disclosure structure that provides sufficient qualitative and quantitative information for investors to assess potential risks. First, we compare and identify the differences in RPT disclosure regulations between Taiwan and the U.S. Next, we collect RPT information for twenty leading listed companies from these two countries as our samples, and analyze the contents of their disclosures in 2012 and 2013. Third, we use the Taiwan samples to illustrate the trend of RPT information disclosed to the investors before and after adopting International Financial Reporting Standards. We found that all sample companies from the U.S disclosed qualitative RPT information, including company policy, business purposes, authorization, approval procedure of RPTs, and conflicts of interest of related parties. It is apparent that U.S. investors could obtain more important information from the disclosure of such transactions than Taiwan investors. Moreover, after adopting IFRS in Taiwan in 2013, less RPT information is disclosed. It becomes more difficult for investors to obtain relevant information to assess risks associated with RPTs