Revisorn anlitas för att ge ett oberoende yttrande som ska säkerställa pålitligheten i företagensfinansiella rapporter. Denna tilltrosskapandande effekt kan endast uppnås om revisorn görsina bedömningar och fattar beslut utan att låta sig påverkas av andra personers viljor ellerönskningar. Att revisorn är oberoende är särskilt viktigt i de fall revisorernas arbete påverkarintressenters beslutsfattande. Diskussionen kring revisorns oberoende i samband medtillhandahållandet av fristående rådgivning har debatterats flitigt. Vissa menar att denfristående rådgivningen medför positiva effekter på revisionen, medan andra anser att denborde förbjudas då den utgör ett hot mot revisorns oberoende och påverkar förtroendet förbranschen. Genom införandet av revisionspaketet står revisionsbranschen inför nyaregleringar av oberoendet och den fristående rådgivningen. Denna uppsats ämnar fördjupadiskussionen och undersöka varför det kan upplevas som ett problem när en revisionsbyrå, irollen som oberoende kontrollorgan, erbjuder både fristående rådgivning och revision.Frågeställningen besvaras med hjälp av relevanta teorier, modeller och intervjuer medrevisorer, intressenter samt normgivande organ. Den fristående rådgivningen kan medföra attrevisorn inte uppfattas som oberoende och kan utmana förtroendet hos allmänheten. Vidarekan det upplevas som ett problem när den fristående rådgivningen sker på revisionsklienter.Medias skildring av debatten, att det verkar föreligga ett förväntningsgap samt en bristandetransparens kan även det vara bidragande orsaker till problematiken. Revisionspaketet kankomma att öka transparensen, minska förväntningsgapet samt stärka förtroendet för branschenoch kan således komma att minska problematiken med att ett oberoende kontrollorganerbjuder både fristående rådgivning och revision. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet

近年來在會計師事務所積極擴張其專業服務版圖的情況下，會計師事務所逐漸發展成橫跨多項專業領域的多元化組織。為對企業營運問題提供完整的解決方案，會計師事務所聘用律師或與法律事務所進行策略聯盟，已是無可避免之趨勢。但會計師事務所對審計客戶提供法律服務則可能衍生出一些新問題，並使外部第三者對其適當性產生疑慮。因此本研究旨在探討當會計師事務所對審計客戶提供法律服務時，財務報表使用者對審計人員獨立性與財務報表可靠性之認知與判斷情形，而研究目的則是驗證法律服務類型、法律公費金額重大性與事務所職員分離程度對財務報表使用者反應的可能影響。 　　研究結果發現，當審計客戶之法律公費構成重大的財務關係時，將顯著影響報表使用者對審計人員獨立性及財務報表可靠性之認知與判斷；另外職員分離程度亦顯著影響報表使用者對審計人員獨立性及財報可靠性之認知情形；但法律服務類型對上述項目之影響則僅為部分顯著。其次，有效保障機制的設計與執行，包括「限制法律服務收入之金額重大性」、「對法律服務公費及服務內容設立強制揭露之規定」、「建立防火牆」與「簽署保密棄權書」等，應有助於維持審計人員之外觀獨立性，並且是財務報表使用者心目中最合理的規範方式。 / In recent years, CPA firms have continued to expand the types of professional services offered both to their audit and non-audit clients and become multidisciplinary organizations. In many cases, they found it necessary to employ lawyers or to enter into strategic alliances with law firms in order to provide complete solutions to business problems. The increase in such arrangements raised new questions and concerns regarding their propriety when legal services were provided to audit clients. This research assessed financial statement users’perceptions of auditor independence and financial statement reliability when a CPA firm offered legal services to its audit clients. The objective was to test financial statement users’reactions to different types of legal services that CPA firms offered to their audit clients, as well as the effects of the materiality of the engagement and the degree of staff separation involved in the provision of such services. 　　Results indicated that a financially material business relationship affected financial statement users’perceptions regarding independence and related judgments of financial statement reliability. The degree of staff separation between auditors and lawyers was also found to affect perceptions of independence and related judgments of financial statement reliability. The type of legal services offered had a lesser effect on responses. This study suggested that with certain mitigating/safeguarding procedures in place, e.g., legal fee magnitude restrictions, legal service disclosure requirements, firewalls, and client waivers, users’perceptions of auditor independence and financial statements reliability may not be impaired when CPA firms provide legal services to their audit clients.

Bakgrund: Aktieägarnas förtroende för revisionen och de finansiella rapporterna har påverkats negativt på grund av de revisionsskandaler som har varit aktuella under senare tid. Skandalerna har lett till att pålitligheten i revisionen har ifrågasatts av de finansiella rapporternas användare. En av skandalerna som har varit aktuell under 2000-talet är skandalen med HQ-Bank, där revisorn hade misskött sitt arbete och bedragit aktieägare och kunder. På grund av skandaler som denna har krav på hårdare lagstiftning efterfrågats. Till följd av detta har det tagits fram åtgärder i form av ett revisionspaket. Det har dock funnits delade meningar om åtgärdernas effekt när det kommer till att åtgärda problemet. Det faktiska och det synliga oberoendet har haft en stor roll i diskussionen när det kommer till att återuppbygga och stärka förtroendet.Syfte: Studien syftar till att fördjupa diskussionen i frågan om de förtroendestärkande åtgärderna och undersöker hur aktieägarnas förtroende till revisionen kommer att påverkas av åtgärderna i revisionspaketet.Metod: Frågeställningen besvaras genom kvalitativa intervjuer och lämpliga teorier för att skapa en korrekt bild över forskningsområdet. Teorierna som är utvalda för studien ligger till grund för analysen av det insamlade datamaterialet.Resultat: Studien tyder på att revisionspaketets effekt inte kommer att bli särskilt märkvärd, och frågan är om det är rätt åtgärd att vidta. Orsaken till det negativa utfallet tycks bero på osunda relationer som bygger på sociala mekanismer. Utifrån detta kan regleringen ses som att den endast fyller en social funktion eftersom sociala mekanismer kan anses svårreglerade.Det kan vidare uppfattas som att det synliga oberoendet har fått en större roll än det faktiska oberoendet när det kommer till att etablera förtroende. Studien finner ytterligare problem i att det råder ett förväntningsgap i samhället som visar på kunskapsluckor gällande revisorns ansvar, något som revisionspaketet inte kommer åt. En utjämning av förväntningsgapet skulle kunna mildra problemet varför fokus kanske borde ligga på att reducera gapet.Orginalitet/värde: Studien har bidragit till diskussionen kring förtroendestärkande åtgärder inom revisionen och revisionspaketets effekt när det gäller att påverka aktieägarnas förtroende. / Background: The shareholders trust in the auditing process has been affected negatively due to the recent audit scandals. The reliability of the audit has been questioned by the users of the financial statements due to the audit scandals. One of the main scandals during the 2000s is the scandal of HQ- Bank, where the auditor had mismanaged his work and defrauded shareholders and customers. Demands for stricter legislation has been requested because of the scandals. As a result of this, new arrangements in terms of a reform of the EU statutory audit market has been developed. However, there has been disagreements regarding the effectiveness when it comes to fixing the problem. The independence in fact and the independence in appearance has had a major role in this context when it comes to rebuilding strengthen the trust.Purpose: This study aims to deepen the discussion in trust-building actions and examines how the shareholders trust in the audit will be affected by the measures in the reform of the audit market.Methodology: The question is answered through qualitative interviews and appropriate theories to create an accurate picture of the research area. The theories that are selected for the study are the basis for the analysis of the collected dataFindings: The study indicates that the effect of the reform of the audit market will not be obvious, and the question is if it is the right move. The reason for the negative outcome appears to be due to unhealthy relationships based on social mechanisms. Based on this the regulation can be seen as only fulfilling a social function since social mechanisms can be difficult to regulate. It can further be seen as the independence in appearance has played a bigger role than the independence in fact when it comes to establishing the trust. The study finds further problems in the expectation gap in society that shows knowledge gaps regarding the auditor's responsibilities, which the reform of audit market cannot reach. A smoothing of the expectation gap might alleviate the problem as to why the focus should probably be on reducing the gap.Orginality/value: The study has contributed to the discussion regarding trust-building actions within the audit and the reform of the audit markets effect when it comes to influencing the shareholders trust.This thesis will continue in Swedish.

Auditing has an important role in the corporate governance process and is essential in ensuring confidence in the reliability of financial information. It is important to understand the reasons why, given the costs involved, companies change their auditor and choose a particular level of audit assurance. To date, however, only a limited number of studies on auditor choice issues are available, especially in the UK setting. Further, since the downfall of Andersen, the audit market environment has changed significantly, creating a new audit environment to be researched. In light of these recent developments, the objectives of this thesis are to address both concentration and auditor choice issues. It is divided into two separate but interrelated parts. The first part of this thesis provides evidence on audit market concentration in the UK domestic listed company market from 1998 to 2003. The effect of Andersen’s demise on both audit market concentration and audit fees is examined. Using four different size measures (number of audits, audit fees, clients’ total assets and sales), three measures of concentration are calculated. Results show that the UK audit market has now clearly surpassed the tight oligopoly threshold and, despite auditing significantly fewer clients in 2003 than in 1998, the B5/4 managed to increase their fee dominance. In particular, the decline in B5/4 ‘number of clients’ market share was mainly due to their lower share of the newly-listed companies audit market. On the other hand, the slight increase in B5/4 audit fee market share was due to the net impact of leavers concentrating the B5/4 share and joiners diluting it. Voluntary switches to/from the B5/4 had a relatively small impact on B5/4 market share for both measures. Following Andersen’s acquisition by Deloitte & Touche, market levels of audit fee and audit fee rate (audit fee scaled by total assets) have increased markedly, suggesting that more audit effort is being expended as a way to restore confidence about audit quality after the damage caused by Andersen’s alleged misconduct. The acquisition has also contributed to a further increase in ‘audit fee’ market concentration for the 4-firm concentration ratio (CR4) and in the overall Hirschman-Herfindahl Index measure. Although, Deloitte & Touche gained significant market share in terms of both audit fees and number of audits through its acquisition of Andersen, it is PricewaterhouseCoopers that continues to hold the largest market share. Deloitte & Touche retained 93 former Andersen clients (74%), 21 (17%) moved to another B5/4 auditor and 11 (9%) chose a non-B5/4 firm. While former Andersen clients paid higher audit fees, in aggregate, the increase was, perhaps surprisingly, less than for the market as a whole. At the industry level, the B4 firms dominated all sectors, the highest non-B5/4 market share in any industry being just 8%. In 2003, PricewaterhouseCoopers was the leader in 18 out of 34 sectors. The second part of the thesis is divided into two separate studies – auditor change determinants and new auditor selection determinants. These studies use a sample of non financial auditor change companies to test logistic regression models of the determinants of auditor change and new auditor selection. The determinant variables include auditee, auditor and audit characteristics. This part also examines the sensitivity of results to alternative functional forms of the basic model specification. Two definitions of auditor quality – brand name auditor and specialism, are employed. Internal governance issues such as audit committee independence, the duality of chairman/CEO as well as the size/quality of the incumbent auditor were found to be significant determinants of auditor change. Expected future growth in the company, rather than past growth, and audit fee reduction were positively related to audit change probability. Result also suggests that companies changed auditor to improve the perception of auditor independence. By contrast, in the new auditor selection models, corporate governance variables did not appear to be important in determining a different quality (brand-name) auditor. Only the chairman/CEO duality variable was weakly and negatively significant, suggesting that duality is associated with a change to a lower quality auditor. Growing companies are more likely to change to a brand name auditor, consistent with the inability of smaller firms to provide services across an international market. Contrary to agency theory predictions, the results show that a company experiencing increased leverage is less likely to choose a B5/4 auditor, suggesting that B5/4 auditors are being selective in avoiding risky clients. Higher audit fees are paid to new auditors by companies that changed from non-B5/4 to B5/4, reflecting a B5/4 fee premium. However, the higher NAS fee result is contrary to initial expectations. Typically, far fewer variables were significant in the models with audit quality proxied by industry specialism. For the specialism models based on audit fee market share, there is counter-intuitive evidence that a company with a large number of subsidiaries is less likely to move to a specialist auditor from a non-specialist. New specialist auditors were more likely to be preferred when a company experienced an increase in current accruals or a reduction in leverage. In general, the results for these models were less strong and were dependent upon the specialist definition adopted. Finally, the thesis provides evidence that the choice of time variant model (ex-ante, contemporaneous or ex-post) made no significant difference to the overall results. The one exception concerns the ‘growth’ variable, where companies are found to change auditor in anticipation of future growth, rather than as a response to past growth. Further, the use of alternative proxy variables does not greatly influence the regression results. One important exception to this general observation concerns the brand name proxy. When brand name was defined as tier12 (to include Grant Thornton and BDO) the significance level was improved in all models. This suggests that, to some degree, Grant Thornton and BDO are viewed as quality service providers closer in quality to B5/4 than to other smaller audit firms.

本文主要研究支付給審計委員會較多的權益薪酬會不會影響到審計委員會的獨立性，從而支付較低的審計公費，選擇非產業專家的會計師。以2007至2015年間美國的上市公司為樣本，本研究發現審計委員會獲得的權益薪酬與審計公費，產業專家的會計師選擇呈負相關。此結果與預期一致，權益薪酬會誘導審計委員會妥協獨立性，從而買較少，品質較低的審計服務。

This master thesis deals with legal and ethical aspects of financial audit. The aim of this thesis is to assess whether the financial audit fulfils its main goal in these days. This aim should be reached by answering questions emerged from author's research connected with the thesis theme. Except for technical literature and rules relevant for audit profession, the significant sources of information are interviews with auditors, consultants and academics. Another important information source is author's personal experience with working for the large audit firm. Considering the growing economical globalization, the thesis deals with questions of audit in the Czech Republic as well as contemporary regulation development on the European Union level. Furthermore, there will be an analysis of the fall of the international audit firm Arthur Andersen and some linked accounting scandals, too.

Revisorns oberoende är ett ständigt diskuterat och debatterat ämne. Nya skandaler fortsätter att uppstå där revisorns oberoende ifrågasätts. Syftet med studien är att undersöka om det finns en skillnad mellan revisorers oberoendebedömning beroende på revisorns yrkestitel. Yrkestitlarna som har undersökts i denna studie är revisorsassistenter och auktoriserade revisorer. För undersökning av studiens syfte har en kvalitativ metod tillämpats och semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med fem revisorer varav tre auktoriserade revisorer och två revisorsassistenter.   Resultatet av studien visar att alla respondenter var eniga om att oberoendet är viktigt för att skapa förtroende för samt att oberoendet är en svårbedömd fråga. Detta eftersom de alla trodde att det förekommer skillnader mellan olika revisorers oberoendebedömningar och att oberoendet kvarstår som ett komplext ämne. Vidare framkom det skillnader mellan de två olika yrkestitlarnas resonemang kring olika scenarier där de skulle bedöma ifall det förelåg hot mot oberoendet eller inte. Det som framkom var att de auktoriserade revisorerna hade en striktare syn på självgranskningshotet samt vänskapshotet medan revisorsassistenterna såg striktare på egenintressehotet samt det synbara oberoendet.   Slutsatserna som dras av studien är att revisorsassistenter och auktoriserade revisorer använder sig av analysmodellen på samma sätt men det är revisorsassistenterna som fyller i dessa medan de auktoriserade revisorerna kontrollerar det. Ytterligare förekom skillnader mellan revisorsassistenter och auktoriserade revisorers resonemang kring olika oberoendehot vilket innebär att studien tydliggör att karaktärsdraget yrkeserfarenhet påverkar revisorns oberoendebedömning. / Auditor independence is a constantly discussed and debated topic. New scandals continue to arise where the auditor's’ independence is questioned. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there is a difference between the auditors’ independent assessment depending on the auditor's professional title. The titles examined in this study is auditor assistants and authorized auditors. To investigate the purpose of the study, a qualitative method was used and semi-structured interviews were conducted with five auditors, of which three where authorized auditors and two auditor assistants.   The results of the study show that all respondents agreed that independence is important for building trust and that independence is a difficult question. This is because they all believed that differences existed between the different auditors' independent assessments and that the independence remains as a complex subject. Furthermore, differences emerged between the two different professional titles' arguments regarding different scenarios where they should decide whether there was a threat to their independence or not. What emerged was that the authorized auditors had a stricter view of the self-examination threat and the friendship threat, while the auditor assistants looked more strictly at the self-interest threat and independence in appearance.   The conclusions drawn from the study is that auditor assistants and authorized auditors use the analysis model in the same way, but the auditors' assistants fill in these while the authorized auditors control it. In addition, there were differences between the auditor assistants and the authorized auditors' arguments regarding different independence threats, which means that the study makes clear that the character trait, professional experience, influences the auditor's independence assessment.

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to provide evidence on the extent and the consequences of the provision of non-audit services (NAS) by statutory auditors to German family firms. Design/methodology/approach – The study analyzes hand collected fee data of 368 listed and private family firms in Germany. It employs univariate tests, ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares regressions to investigate potential threats to perceived auditor independence and knowledge spillovers between jointly provided NAS and audit services. Findings – Incumbent auditors are shown to be a significant source of various types of NAS to family firms. There is weak evidence on threats to perceived auditor independence and support for reciprocal knowledge spillovers between the services. While listed and private family firms do not differ in regard to the proportion of NAS fees, comparative findings suggest that key threats and benefits of jointly provided services are more prevalent among private than among listed family firms. Research limitations/implications – The study suffers from limited data availability and is restricted to the initial year of mandatory audit fee disclosure of private firms in Germany. Particularities of family firms and the German setting, as well as differential results for listed and private family firms, suggest fruitful avenues for future research. Practical implications – The study addresses the current issues in audit regulation. Regulatory bodies should consider that key threats and benefits of auditor-provided NAS decrease with stronger exogenous restrictions. Attempts to restrict jointly provided services in the EU suggest family firms to reconsider their reliance on auditors as a trusted source of NAS. Originality/value – This study is the first to provide evidence on the extent and consequences of auditor-provided NAS in family firms based on fee disclosure. It is also among the few studies that investigate private firms in a code law country and complements prior evidence from Germany that is restricted to listed firms. More generally, it contributes to limited evidence at the intersection of audit and family business research.

企業因為經濟自由化、貿易國際化潮流之影響，逐漸成為資本集中與技術密集之經營型態。為求擴充生產規模、增加產品種類、分散投資風險、拓展國際市場等目的，因而成立新公司或兼併其他公司，或購買其他公司之股份，或母公司與子公司交叉持股，而形成關係企業之組織型態，已成為普遍趨勢。職是，關係企業之經濟發展與經營模式，已然占有重要之地位。 關係企業具有特殊屬性，舉凡管理組織、生產規劃、人事制度、市場行銷、財務風險、獲利能力、公共事務與社會歸屬，均有相當程度之影響力。我國公司法對於關係企業專章之規範，仍有不足之處，導致受一九九八年亞洲金融風暴影響所及，爆發若干關係企業之經營弊端，其中以股票流通市場之證券交易違法行為，最為嚴重。綜觀其原因，除肇始於東南亞金融危機及國際不景氣環境外，亦顯示關係企業在股票市場存有許多問題，諸如負責人欠缺誠信、掏空公司資產，造成企業發生危機，發生多起上市或上櫃公司之經營弊端，嚴重損害公司、股東權益與債權人利益，並衝擊社會投資人與整體經濟，值得探討研究。 本論文研究方向，以法制理論、比較法學及實證案例為基礎，論述關係企業證券交易之違法行為，以股票流通市場為中心，並闡述近年來若干重要之關係企業案例，分析法院裁判之論處法律邏輯。包括關係企業之市場操縱行為（違約交割、沖洗買賣、相對委託、連續交易炒作行為）、關係企業「護盤」之違法性、關係企業之內線交易行為，等重要項目。亦討論關係企業藉由無形資產之高估或低估而買賣有價證券之非常規交易行為，兼述國際會計準則公報之規範，佐以實際案例研究。此外，亦闡論關係企業財務預測制度與證券交易違法行為之牽連、證券投資人之保護。 本論文內容之參考文獻資料，包括學位論文（例如前輩先進之博碩士論文）、教授學者之著作書籍、著名期刊與國內外網站資訊。所參考資料則以我國與美國法制文獻為主，至於其他國家之部分，則略以要旨參酌。最後，再針對作者執業律師參與關係企業案例之辯護瞭解，提出若干防弊機制之建議，俾供各界參考。 / UNLAWFUL ACTS BY AFFILIATED ENTERPRISES RESPECTING SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS WITH A FOCUS ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE MARKET Abstract Due to the impact of economic liberalization and trade internationalization, operations of enterprises have gradually become capital-intensive and technology-intensive. In order to increase production, expand product line, spread out investment risks, and develop international markets, enterprises have established new companies, merged with others, and purchased shares of other companies, or have engaged in cross-holding of shares between parent companies and subsidiaries. As a result, the formation of affiliated enterprises has become a popular trend. The economic development and business model of affiliated enterprises have likewise become important issues. Affiliated enterprises have their unique attributes; their management organization, production planning, personnel policy, marketing, financial risks, profitability, public affairs, and social affiliation have significant impact on enterprises. Due to inadequacies in the regulations on affiliated enterprises in Taiwan’s Company Law, several affiliated enterprises were exposed to have engaged in fraudulent business operations as a result of the 1998 Asian financial crisis. Among these, most serious were cases involving unlawful securities transactions in the stock market. An analysis of the factors leading to such anomaly shows that in addition to the Southeast Asian financial crisis and international economic slowdown, problems caused by of affiliated enterprises in the stock market, such as integrity and credibility issues on the part of the persons-in-charge and their swindling of company assets, resulted in corporate crises. Many incidents of business malpractices in public or OTC companies occurred, severely undermining the interests of companies, shareholders, and creditors, as well as those of the public investors and the overall economy. All these are worthy of further exploration and study. This paper uses legal theories, comparative jurisprudence, and empirical studies to discuss the unlawful activities in securities transactions by affiliated enterprises. This paper focuses on the stock market to explain the major cases involving affiliated enterprises in recent years and to analyze the legal grounds in the court’s decision on punishment. The cases covered include market manipulation by enterprises, default of securities delivery, wash sales, matched order, manipulation of series of transactions, the unlawfulness of stock market intervention by affiliated enterprises, and insider trading by affiliated enterprises. In addition, this paper discusses the transaction anomalies resulting from overvalue or undervalue of intangible assets by affiliated enterprises. Regulations on the International Accounting Standards gazette are explained and supplemented by actual case studies. In addition, this paper explores the inter-relation between financial forecast systems in affiliated enterprises, unlawful activities in securities transaction, and investor protection. Reference literature used in this paper includes academic dissertations, publications by professors and scholars, periodicals, and information from local and foreign Web sites. Reference materials are based primarily on literature on Taiwan and U.S. laws, supplemented by summary of information from other countries. Finally, recommendations of mechanisms to prevent malpractices are put forward, drawing on the author’s experience as defense lawyer for affiliated enterprises.