Civil Liability Of Certified Public Accountants,

How to charge the civil liability against Certificated Public Accountant (CPA) is a worldwide problem. In our country, according to the company law, capital assessment is a necessary process to construct a company. The work of Certificated Public Accountant is not only very important to the construction of a company, but also important to uphold the rights of the third parties. In fact, there are a large number of false or untrue capital assessment reports conducted by CPA, which may cause damages to those parties who may use those information. In the legal theoretical field, CPA's liability is divided into the liability on enterprise laws and the liability on security laws. This paper tries to discuss the civil liability against CPA to those persons on the company laws, and taking the liability to the third parties as the center.This paper is consist of four parts: In the first part, the writer tries to study the duties of and the requisites of Certificated Public Accountant's liability to the third parties. In the second part, the writer tends to introduce the legal practice in U. S, England, Germany, French, etc. The third part is about the legal practice in our country and some problems discussed in the legal theoretical field in recent years. And, the fourth part is about some rationalization proposals on this problem.In this paper, the writer tries to show: (1) We cannot get a unique answer on the methods to solve this problem, there are great differences among countries. (2)Since 1996,we have achieved great progress in this field, but there are still some questions to be solved. (3) We should take those factors, such as the development of the CPA industry, the construction of the civil legal system , etc , into account. Meanwhile, on the basis of using the successful experiences of other countries for reference, we should seek a relatively rational way to contribute the civil liability among CPAand the other parties.The writer's opinions are: (l)The liability against CPA to the third parties is a kind of general tort liability. We should follow the rules of general tort to define the requisites of CPA's civil liability; (2)0n the subject of the order of the liability, firstly, the liability of capital contributors should be strengthened. Then, on the basis of clearing the liability of those parties, such as those banks providing the basic information, the guarantors, related to the loss of the third parties; (3)We must make clear the chief reasons that caused the loss of the third party. There are two kind of possibilities that may cause that loss. One is called the "Market risks", the other is called "audit failure". Only under the condition of "audit failure", we can charge the civil liability against CPA; (4)As to the range of the liability, this paper provides a standpoint of differential ism: the range of the liability should be connected with the fault of CPA. Unlimited liability system will cause the moral hazard and some other behaviors alike of the third parties.With the development of construction of legal system in our country, the writer of this paper believes that we can get a relatively rational method to solve this problem.