회계법인의 가치평가(valuation) 업무와 관련된 벌칙규정의 해석과 적용에 관한 연구: 공인회계사법과 외부감사법을 중심으로

초록

Accounting firms provide a variety of non-audit services such as tax, financial advisory and consulting services as well as audit services. The number of cases involving criminal liability arising out of valuation services which are alleged to belong to financial or deal advisory services increases. The criminal investigation authorities tend to invoke the violation of the Certified Public Accountant Act involving false report whose requirements are alleged to be vague and broad when prosecuting accountants who are alleged to be involved in issuing false valuation reports. However, the legal basis for such practice is not sound. First, by nature, a lot of hypotheses and inferences are required for valuation services. In this process, it is widely accepted that valuers might exercise considerable professional discretion. Given these, it is not proper to determine whether to hold valuers liable for producing a doubtful valuation figure on the basis of the vague requirement of ‘falsehood’. Second, from the perspectives of comparative law study, it is not common that public accountants are punishable on the basis of a penal provision applicable only to the profession in addition to the accomplice provisions of the criminal code and the anti-fraud provisions of the securities act in the case of false report. Third, there is no penal provision applicable to other valuers such as credit rating agencies which can be tantamount to the penal provision under the Certified Public Accountant Act. Considering the circumstances, it can be said that the sanctions against valuers who made misstatements on their valuation reports should be enforced in the form of administrative fines or disciplinary actions rather than criminal penalties based on the Certified Public Accountant Act. Over-reliance on the criminal penalties would not be in line with the proposition that criminal penalties should be the last resort. Even if they can be subject to criminal penalties, the legal basis for the punishment should be the accomplice provisions of the general criminal code relating to the principal offender who is alleged to conspire with the accountants or make a request for false reports.

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