網路銀行銷售共同基金之研究

Abstract

電子商務之發展，為傳統的商業交易模式帶來巨大的衝擊，而隨著網際網路技術導入銀行業務，網路銀行乃成為金融業界近年來主要發展趨勢之一。在網路銀行所提供之多樣化金融服務中，共同基金網路下單因具有跨地域性與即時性，便利投資者隨時隨地進行投資，且網路銀行所提供之豐富的產業資訊與各類基金研究報告、績效評比，係消費者作成投資決定前重要參考資訊，共同基金理財服務乃成為最獲消費者青睞之網路銀行金融服務項目。

網路銀行銷售共同基金有兩種主要銷售管道，一為單純代銷，一為以指定用途信託資金契約方式銷售，以後者為大宗。網路銀行以指定用途信託資金契約銷售共同基金，外觀上網路銀行為消費者之受託人，受託辦理信託業務，然實際上，消費者以指定用途信託資金之方式買賣共同基金，其目的在於投資獲利，與其他投資形式買賣共同基金並無二致，是以，本文嘗試先釐清網路銀行銷售共同之法律關係，進一步以消費者面向出發，探討網路銀行在銷售共同基金之法律關係中對消費者所應承擔之銷售責任。

網路銀行銷售共同基金，雖屬民事私法行為之一環，但民事法律係以傳統之交易行為作為規範對象，其對網路銀行銷售共同基金之適用性如何？現行法規範是否對消費者經由網路銀行投資共同基金提供了充足的保護？即是本文研究目的之一。本文針對網路銀行銷售共同基金法律關係中，常見之實體法上爭議問題：電子契約之意思表示、駭客行為之風險分配及舉證、消費者金融資訊之保護、消費者保護法之特種買賣解約權適用、基金廣告等問題，探討民法或其他民事特別法在網路銀行銷售共同基金交易之適用性，並分析現行法規範架構對於規範網路銀行銷售共同基金交易行為之欠缺與不足。

網路銀行銷售共同基金所生爭端之解決涉及程序面之問題多端，本文除就管轄權之確定、電子證據之採用及效力問題加以分析外，針對目前新興而熱門之議題--「線上爭端解決機制」（ODR）亦一併加以介紹，並分析網路銀行銷售共同基金交易所生爭端在ODR機制中之實現可能性。

The development of e-commerce has brought tremendous impact on the conventional model of business transactions. As the Internet technology was introduced to banks over the past years, Internet banking has become one of the major development trends for the financial service industry. Among the various financial services offered online, mutual fund sales break the geographic boundaries and facilitate the investors to make decisions instantly. Furthermore, the Internet is a convenient channel with abundant information, such as research reports and performance ranking, based on which the investors can make their decisions. Thus, online mutual fund sales as a wealth management service have become the most popular Internet banking service for consumers.

Mutual fund sales via Internet banking can be divided into two major categories: (1) the bank is purely a sales channel; (2) the bank sells mutual funds in the form of non-discretionary fund contracts. The second one obviously takes up the lion’s share. On the Internet, the bank sells mutual funds in the form of non-discretionary fund contracts. It appears that the bank is entrusted by the consumer for the fund. In reality, the consumer subscribes/redeems mutual funds via the non-discretionary fund with the intention to profit from such an investment. The intention is no different from other forms of mutual fund subscription/redemption. Therefore, the paper aims at first clarifying the legal relationships involved in mutual fund sales via Internet banking and then exploring the bank’s responsibilities for the consumer in an act of selling mutual funds via the Internet.

Although mutual fund sales via Internet banking fall into the jurisdiction of civil private acts, civil law governs conventional transactions. How does that apply to mutual fund sales via Internet banking? Do current regulations offer sufficient protection for the consumers who invest in mutual funds via Internet banking? These are the questions this study aims to answer. This paper addresses the substantive law disputes of the legal relationships involved in mutual fund sales via Internet banking: the declaration of intent for electronic contract, risk allocation and burden of proof for hacker acts, protection of the consumer’s financial information, the right to rescind the purchase contract for Extraordinary Purchase and Sale under the Consumer Protection Law, and mutual fund advertisements. The paper looks into the applicability of civil law or the other civil special laws in mutual fund transactions on the Internet. In addition, it analyzes the shortcoming and insufficiency of the current legal framework on governing mutual fund transactions via Internet banking.

Dispute settlements and procedures derived from mutual fund sales on the Internet are diverse. In addition to defining the right of jurisdiction, admission of electronic evidence and analysis of their effects, the paper also introduces the emerging topic of today – Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) and analyzes the feasibility of settling Internet banking mutual fund disputes through the ODR mechanism.