公司秘書制度在我國公司法環境下之探討

Abstract

董事會之運作為公司治理的源頭，良好的公司治理是企業永續經營的根本之一；因此，協助董事會落實其職責並發揮其在公司治理架構中應有之監督及指導功能，專業專責的公司秘書給予董事會所需的建議及顧問，為董事會功能能否有效發揮的重要關鍵之一。 公司秘書(company secretary)制度起源於英國，時至今日，英、美、港、星、中國大陸、澳洲、馬來西亞等地，為確保企業遵循法規、提升董事會治理與運作效能，公司法令均要求企業設置具一定專業資格之公司秘書，以協助企業公司治理制度之建立、董事會及股東會之議事運作及法規遵循，並促進管理階層與董事會間之資訊溝通、宣達及遵守主管機關法令規章、即時且正確之企業資訊揭露、重要文件之用印及保存等。 然「公司秘書」於我國除學界、專業組織及主管機關外，相對於一般投資大眾仍屬陌生制度，蓋因“秘書”一詞易使人誤解公司秘書僅為公司主管之文書或行政職員。故本文藉由英國、香港、新加坡關於公司秘書制度之法令規範，並進一步研究該等國家公司秘書之歷史沿革、發展現況、配套措施等，瞭解公司秘書角色在該地公司治理中之定位、資格、職權及責任。 金管會為促進我國良好公司治理並與世界接軌，已按英美法系公司秘書制度之精神推行該制度(我國稱公司治理人員)，惟目前僅於行政命令層級，尚未將該制度修法入典。為此，本文汲取前揭國家之公司秘書制度及相關規範，比較我國現行公司法令環境下的不足或缺失，再透過實務訪談瞭解現下實行公司秘書制度可能之問題，擬建議：1.公司秘書應予法制化(即明訂於《公司法》或《證交法》)、2.公司秘書應強制設置(惟可依公司規模、公開發行與否而分時程辦理)、3.公司秘書制度之配套(即其專業之職業公會)。

The operation of the board of directors is the source of corporate governance, and well managed corporate governance is one of the fundamentals of sustainable business. Therefore, to assist the board in carrying out its responsibilities and giving full play to its due function of supervision and guidance in the corporate governance structure, the professional secretary of the company provides the board with necessary suggestions and consultants, which is one of the important keys to the effective performance of the board's functions. Company secretary system originated in Britain, even today, it continues to the UK, the US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mainland China, Australia, Malaysia and other places. In order to ensure the enterprise to comply with the laws and regulations, and to improve the board governance and efficiency, the company law requirements enterprise set up with a certain professional qualifications of the company secretary, to help enterprises to establish the board of directors and shareholders meetings, to promote the information communication between the management and the board of directors, and abide by the regulation to provide the real-time and correct information disclosure to the Authority, at the same time safe-keep the important documents and stamps, etc. However, in addition to the academic professional organization and the competent authority, company secretary in our country is still relatively unfamiliar to the general investors. Reason being the term of secretary makes the general public easily misunderstood the word only for the administrative staff of the company director. Therefore, this article based on the laws and regulations of the company secretary system in the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore, to further study their historical evolution and current situation, to understand the its role and position in the corporate governance. In order to promote good corporate governance in our country and integrate with the world, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has implemented the corporate secretary system in accordance with the Anglo-American corporate secretary system (referred to as corporate governance personnel in our country), however it is only at the level of administrative order currently and has not yet incorporated into the law. To this end, this article draws on the previous countries’ corporate secretary system and related norms, compares the inadequacies or deficiencies of the current corporate law environment in our country, and then through practical interviews to understand the possible problems of the current implementation of the corporate secretary system, hereby suggest: (1) The secretary of the company shall be legalized, that is, stipulated in the Company Act or the Securities and Exchange Act; (2) The secretary of the company shall be mandatory, though can be handled on a time-sharing basis according to the size of the company and whether it is public listed; (3) Supporting system of company secretary (ie: the professional association of its profession).