债权人保护:股份回购资金来源限制的法律漏洞及其填补

2018年《公司法》修改取消股份回购资金来源限制后,股份公司可以通过回购股份向股东返还财产,同时规避利润分配规则与减资规则,导致了债权人保护的法律漏洞。两大证券交易所与全国股转公司发布股份回购实施细则等自律性规范,在一定程度上填补了债权人保护的法律漏洞,并实质性地引入了偿债能力测试及董事责任规则,为公司资本制度的未来变革进行了有益尝试。《公司法》应当把握股份回购导致财产返还的经济实质,恢复资金来源限制,但具体限制标准则依赖于资本维持原则的改革方向。

Creditor Protection:The Legal Loophole of Fund Restriction on Share Repurchase and its Filling

After the 2018 amendment of the Company Law in which the funding restriction on Share Repurchases was removed,stock company can return property to shareholders through share repurchases while avoiding the profit distribution rule and the capital reduction rule,inducing a legal loophole of creditor protection.The two major Securities Exchanges and the National Equities Exchange and Quotations Limited Liability Company in China have issued implementation rules on share repurchases and other self-discipline rules,which closed the legal loophole of creditor protection to some extent.The exchanges have also introduced the solvency test and director liability rule,making a beneficial attempt for the future reform of corporate capital system.The Company Law should grasp the economic essence that share repurchase results in property return and reinstate the funding restriction,but setting specific restriction criteria ought to depend on the reform direction of capital maintenance principle.