交易所问询函的监管机制与经济后果

It is the information asymmetry in mergers and acquisitions that is the root cause of chaos in the M&A market. China took the lead in introducing exchange comment letters into M&A transactions to reduce information asymmetry, however, the literature on this topic is rare. In this project, we are going to study the monitoring mechanisms and economic consequences of exchange comment letters in M&A transactions. Based on the "reason - mechanism - economic consequence" logic, our main contents are as follows: First, we will investigate whether exchange comment letters identify potential M&A risks, specifically, from the perspective of information asymmetry and value-reducing M&A, we study the factors that affect the probability of receiving a comment letter. Second, we will use textual analysis and investigate the effect of comment letters on the information asymmetry between the market participants and merging parties, that is, the direct monitoring effect of comment letters on merging parties’ information disclosure, and the indirect monitoring effect on the role of financial intermediaries and independent directors. Third, we will further investigate the influence of comment letters on M&A performance. This project is expected to not only enrich the literature on the impact of exchange comment letters as well as information asymmetry in M&A transactions, but also provide important implications for the monitoring mechanisms and economic consequences of comment letters in M&A transactions and shed light on how to prevent financial risks through comment letters.

并购重组交易中严重的信息不对称问题是并购重组市场乱象的根源。我国率先将交易所问询函制度引入并购重组交易，以降低信息不对称，但现有研究尚未触及这一话题。本课题拟按照“原因-机制-经济后果”的路径检验以下三个问题，以探究交易所问询函在并购重组中的作用：第一，本课题拟考察交易所问询函是否识别了并购重组的潜在风险，具体地，从并购重组信息不对称和是否损害公司价值角度，检验其是否影响上市公司收到问询函的可能性；第二，本课题拟采用文本分析法研究交易所问询函降低市场与并购交易主体间信息不对称的具体机制，包括如下两个方面：问询函改善并购交易主体信息披露的直接监管，以及促使中介机构和独立董事履职的间接监管；第三，鉴于问询函可能发挥直接和间接监管作用，本课题拟进一步研究交易所问询函对并购重组效率的影响。本课题预计会拓展交易所问询函和并购重组信息不对称的相关研究，并为问询监管以防控金融风险的机制设计提供启示。

并购重组交易中严重的信息不对称问题是并购重组市场乱象的根源。我国将交易所问询函制度广泛运用于并购重组交易，以降低信息不对称。本课题主要研究以下几个命题：①交易所问询能否降低并购重组中的信息不对称。具体地，本项目通过识别并购重组报告书中的文本信息特征，以判断公司收到交易所问询函后的并购重组报告书是否向市场提供了有价值的增量信息，从而尝试回答我国交易所问询能否降低并购重组中的信息不对称这一兼具现实意义和理论意义的命题。研究发现，新修订报书中标的方历史信息和前瞻信息的内容均更多，且更详细。实证发现被问询样本在收到问询函之后的买卖价差、分析师盈余预测误差以及分析师乐观程度较低，表明总体上交易所问询能否降低并购重组中的信息不对称。②本课题进一步研究了交易所问询对并购重组绩效的影响，发现信息披露改善较多的被问询样本的重组成功概率更高，未来市场业绩更高，从而证明了交易所问询在并购重组中的重要作用。③围绕本课题的核心思路，本课题还在继续对交易所并购重组问询的相关问题展开更多研究。