Research On The Legal Liability Of Auditors Under The Background Of The New "Securities Law"

On March 1,2020,the new "Securities Law" officially came into effect,one of the most important reforms is the full implementation of the registration system.The registration system promotes the marketization process of my country’s capital market and brings greater possibility of independent issuance to the market and enterprises.Different from the approval system that focuses on prior review,the registration system is more concerned with ex post punishment.The securities issuance review institutions no longer focus on substantive judgments,but only conduct formal review,and the supervision power is delegated to the front line.A sound securities issuance and trading information disclosure system can restrain the behavior of market entities and play a role in regulating and guiding them.Constantly improving the securities issuance information disclosure system is the core content of the registration system reform.The implementation of the new "Securities Law" marks that my country’s capital market will gradually enter the era of registration system centered on information disclosure,and the approval system that has existed for a long time will gradually be replaced.Under such circumstances,the role of securities intermediaries as "gatekeepers" in the securities market becomes more and more important,and they should be responsible for the authenticity and accuracy of the information disclosed by issuers.As one of the important securities intermediaries,accounting firms should strictly control the information disclosure quality of issuers and companies,and their securities auditors should be responsible for the authenticity and legality of audit reports.However,in the current securities market,audit failure cases are not uncommon,such as the early days of Great Wisdom,Wanfu Biotechnology,and in recent years,Kangdexin and Kangmei Pharmaceutical and other financial fraud problems have been continuously exposed to the public,which has hit the public trust and confidence in securities auditors.Therefore,this article will combine the new "Securities Law" and related supporting systems to study the legal liability of securities auditors under the registration system,which is of great significance for improving audit quality,regaining public confidence in securities auditors,and for the securities market.The protection of small and medium investors and the long-term operation of the capital market have an important impact.This paper mainly analyzes the legal liability of securities auditors under the registration system from the perspectives of administrative,civil and criminal liability.Combined with the current market environment with frequent audit failures,it analyzes the legal liability system of securities auditors and the highlights of changes under the new system.Research,with particular emphasis on the investigation and analysis of civil liability.The article is mainly based on the update and improvement of the new "Securities Law" and related supporting systems,such as the passage of the "Criminal Law Amendment(11)" and the latest judicial interpretation of securities misrepresentation issued by the Supreme People’s Court.The auditor’s legal liability assumes a comparative analysis.Therefore,it can be concluded that the main changes in the legal responsibility of securities auditors are as follows: administrative penalties have increased,and the amount of fines has increased significantly;in terms of civil liability,the subject of civil liability for false statements has been expanded,and the special representative litigation system has been added to strengthen the Investor protection;in terms of criminal responsibility,more serious criminal penalties were imposed for the crime of information disclosure,and the sentence was extended to ten years in prison.Then,taking Kangmei Pharmaceutical’s false statement case as an example,it further examines the definition and assumption of legal liabilities of securities auditors under the new legal environment.Yang Wenwei,a partner of the accounting firm and the signatory accountant in the case,was required to bear 100%joint and several liability for compensation,and the punishment was unprecedented.As the first case after the establishment of the special representative litigation system,this case is of representative significance.Finally,based on the comparative analysis of the cases,it is concluded that the legal liability of securities auditors under the registration system has increased compared with that under the approval system.While facing greater administrative penalties,they also have to bear more serious civil liabilities.Liability and criminal accountability.And put forward some feasible suggestions for the risk response of the auditor industry under the registration system and the current legal accountability system,in order to promote the legal construction and development of my country’s auditor industry,and promote the healthy and orderly development of the capital market.At the same time,it is hoped that auditors will re-examine their own responsibilities and better cope with the new changes brought to the auditor industry under the new situation.The research of this paper shows that the legal liability of securities auditors under the registration system has undergone great changes compared with the past,and the registration system has endowed securities auditors with new connotations of administrative,civil and criminal legal liabilities.That is to say,under the registration system,the intensity of administrative penalties has been increased,the civil liability for compensation has been expanded,and the intensity of criminal accountability has been increased.The participation and voice of accounting firms under the new system have increased,the legal status of the audit opinions of securities auditors has also been improved,and the legal consequences of their improper audit practices have also been strengthened.