Restatements, family ownership and the forced turnover of related parties of financial statements

This paper examined the consequences of mandatory restatements and family ownership to related parties of financial statements (top management, outside directors and firm auditors) in Taiwan. Mandatory restatements are externally prompted, showing the material financial misstatements. Taiwan provides an ideal setting to examine the issues due to low awareness of business ethics and a prevalence of family control. Results showed that top management, chief executive officer (CEO), financial executives and firm auditors are replaced in the context of mandatory restatements. Furthermore, results also showed that family ownership reduces the forced turnover of top management, financial executives, firm auditors and supervisors. Findings raise concerns about the need to popularize the value of business ethics as ethical deterioration is biased to financial reporting failure and ineffective punishment mechanisms. This study also demonstrates the need to highlight the effect of family management on business operations due to the entrenchment effect of family ownership on firmsʹ replacement decisions.