【线上云德】疫情期间律师说（一百一十四）┃公司股东出资纠纷中常见的法律问题分析

公司是现代商业文明的主要载体，是中国改革开放获得成功的关键要素之一，要解决公司治理中的法律问题就要首先就要关注公司设立中的股东出资环节。近年来，股东出资在公司法纠纷审判中常见多发，且情形多样，疑难新型问题频现。

The company is the main carrier of modern business civilization and one of the key elements for the success of China's reform and opening up. To solve the legal problems in corporate governance, we must first pay attention to the shareholder investment in the company establishment. In recent years, shareholder contributions have frequently occurred in corporate law dispute trials, and the situation is diverse, and new and difficult problems are frequent.

一、公司股东出资常见的法律问题

股东出资常见的法律问题主要体现为瑕疵出资，主要包括虚假出资、出资不足、逾期出资以及抽逃出资。虚假出资指并未交付货币、实物或者未转移财产所有权等，欺骗公司和其他股东，以假的银行对账单等骗取验资报告进行申请设立的行为；出资不足指出资者未足额出资、未履行出资义务等情况；逾期出资指出资者没有按照出资协议或者公司章程的规定按期缴纳出资；抽逃出资指公司设立后，将公司注册资本转移走的情形。

在我国，由于诸多方面的原因，公司股东出资瑕疵的情况比较常见。一方面侵害其他股东和公司的利益，另一方面也加大了与其有业务往来的客户的经营风险，侵害公司债权人的利益。股东出资瑕疵的民事责任可分为两类：一是有出资瑕疵的股东对公司以及其他股东承担的民事责任，属违约责任；二是有出资瑕疵的股东与其他股东对公司债权人的民事责任，即公司股东违反出资义务，对公司债权人造成损害时，股东对公司债权人所应承担的民事法律后果。出资瑕疵股东向已按章程规定出资的股东以及公司承担的是违约责任，应当补足其出资。公司债权人在公司不能清偿债务时，可要求出资瑕疵股东在一定范围内承担补充清偿的责任，其他股东对出资瑕疵承担连带责任。

二、公司无法偿还债务，债权人能否要求股东出资加速到期。

2019年11月8日，最高人民法院发布《全国法院民商事审判工作会议纪要》（以下简称《会议纪要》），其中第六条规定：“在注册资本认缴制下，股东依法享有期限利益。债权人以公司不能清偿到期债务为由，请求未届出资期限的股东在未出资范围内对公司不能清偿的债务承担补充赔偿责任的，人民法院不予支持。但是，下列情形除外：公司作为被执行人的案件，人民法院穷尽执行措施无财产可供执行，已具备破产原因，但不申请破产的；在公司债务产生后，公司股东（大）会决议或以其他方式延长股东出资期限的。”

本次《会议纪要》的出台明确了认缴资本制下股东出资加速到期的条件与前提，为司法实践中的法律适用提供了明晰且统一的标准：在公司仍然能够继续经营的情形下，债权人无权以公司无法清偿到期债务为由要求股东出资加速到期。仅当公司（1）具备破产原因但不申请破产或(2)恶意延长出资期限时，债权人方有权直接请求未届出资期限的股东在出资范围内直接承担补充赔偿责任。

该规定在明确对股东期限利益的保护的同时也明确了对其他债权人的利益保护，采用了对现有法律的严格解释，未突破公司股东出资加速到期所涉法律之限，亦并未对《公司法解释三》第十三条进行扩张解释，放宽其适用前提。在除《破产法》之外的其他法律未作出的明确规定的情况下，加速到期实质上会导致股东个人责任的极大加重，故在司法实践中不宜当然地对司法解释作出扩张解释。《会议纪要》的性质不属于法律或司法解释，作为民商事审判的指导性文件，对法律的解释保持审慎的态度有助于统一裁判思路，将自由裁量权限制在合理范围内。

1. Common legal issues of company shareholders' capital contribution

The common legal issues of shareholders’ capital contributions are mainly reflected in defective capital contributions, including false capital contributions, insufficient capital contributions, overdue capital contributions and withdrawal of capital contributions. False capital contribution refers to the act of defrauding the company and other shareholders by failing to deliver money, practice or transfer of property ownership, etc., and applying for establishment with fraudulent bank statements and other fraudulent capital verification reports; under-investment indicates that the capital is not fully invested or not performed Capital contribution obligations, etc.; overdue capital contribution indicates that the investor failed to pay the capital contribution in accordance with the provisions of the capital contribution agreement or the company's articles of association; withdrawal of capital contribution refers to the situation in which the company's registered capital is transferred away after the company is established.

In my country, due to many reasons, the defects of capital contributions by company shareholders are relatively common. On the one hand, it infringes the interests of other shareholders and the company, on the other hand, it also increases the operating risks of customers with whom it has business dealings, and infringes the interests of the company's creditors. The civil liability for shareholders’ defective capital contributions can be divided into two categories: one is the civil liability of shareholders with defective capital contributions to the company and other shareholders, which is a liability for breach of contract; the second is the civil liability of shareholders with defective capital contributions and other shareholders to the company’s creditors, That is, when a company's shareholders violate the capital contribution obligations and cause damage to the company's creditors, the shareholders shall bear civil legal consequences to the company's creditors. Defective shareholders who have contributed capital to shareholders and companies that have contributed in accordance with the articles of association are liable for breach of contract and should make up their capital contributions. When the company's creditors cannot pay off their debts, the company's creditors may require shareholders with defective capital contributions to assume supplementary liquidation liabilities within a certain range, and other shareholders shall bear joint and several liabilities for the defective capital contributions.

2. The company is unable to repay its debts. Can the creditors ask shareholders to expedite their capital contributions?

On November 8, 2019, the Supreme People's Court issued the "Minutes of the National Civil and Commercial Trial Work Conference" (hereinafter referred to as the "Minutes of the Conference"), of which Article 6 stipulates: "Under the registered capital subscription system, shareholders shall enjoy the benefits of the term If the creditor requests that the company fails to pay off its due debts, the shareholder who has requested the unfinished capital contribution period to undertake supplementary compensation liability for the company’s debt that cannot be settled within the scope of the capital contribution shall not be supported by the people’s court. However, except for the following cases: In the case of the person subject to execution, the people's court has exhausted the enforcement measures and has no property to execute, and has the reason for bankruptcy, but does not apply for bankruptcy; after the company's debts are incurred, the company's shareholders (General) will resolve or otherwise extend the shareholders' contribution period ."

The issuance of this “Minutes of Meetings” clarifies the conditions and prerequisites for accelerated expiry of shareholder contributions under the subscribed capital system, and provides clear and uniform standards for the application of law in judicial practice: in the case where the company can continue to operate, Creditors have no right to require shareholders to contribute to expiry due to the company's failure to pay off due debts. Only when the company (1) has the cause of bankruptcy but does not apply for bankruptcy or (2) maliciously extends the capital contribution period, the creditor party has the right to directly request shareholders who have not yet reached the capital contribution period to directly undertake supplementary compensation liabilities within the scope of the capital contribution.

The regulation clearly clarifies the protection of shareholders’ interests at the same time as it also clarifies the protection of the interests of other creditors. It adopts a strict interpretation of existing laws, does not break through the legal limits of the company’s shareholders’ accelerated expiry of capital contributions, and does not Article 13 of the "Company Law Interpretation 3" expands the interpretation and relaxes the premise of its application. In the absence of clear provisions in laws other than the Bankruptcy Law, accelerated expiry will substantially increase the shareholder’s personal liability, so it is not appropriate to make an expanded interpretation of judicial interpretation in judicial practice. The nature of the "Minutes of the Meeting" does not belong to legal or judicial interpretations. As a guiding document for civil and commercial trials, maintaining a cautious attitude to the interpretation of the law helps unify the judgment and limit the discretion to a reasonable range.

三、隐名股东的特征及风险防范

隐名股东的主要特征是实际出资人与股东权利的享有者形式上相分离，加之我国认定隐名股东资格采形式说的情况下，隐名股东常会面临一系列的风险，如在无协议或协议无效的情况下，隐名股东甚至不能证明其为公司的实际出资人；名义股东不尽责造成实际出资人投资失败；名义股东将登记于其名下的股权转让、质押或者以其他方式处分；名义股东所负的无力清偿的个人债务，登记在名义股东名下的股权可能会面临被司法冻结，甚至强制执行的风险。为预防风险的发生，可采取以下措施：

（一）签订书面协议并明确相关权利义务。

（二）妥善制定公司章程。

（三）办理股权质押担保。

（四）约定严格而苛刻违约责任并公证代持协议。

（五）明确股东权利的行使方式。

（六）排除显名股东作为代持股人的财产权，适当限制代持股人的权利。

（七）代持股权被保全或强制执行时及时提出异议。

（八）增强证据意识，注意保存股权代持的证据。

3. The characteristics and risk prevention of anonymous shareholders

The main feature of an anonymous shareholder is that the actual investor and the shareholder of the shareholder’s rights are formally separated. In addition, in the case where China recognizes that the qualification of the anonymous shareholder is formal, the anonymous shareholder often faces a series of risks, such as in the absence of agreement or When the agreement is invalid, the hidden shareholders cannot even prove that they are the actual investors of the company; the nominal shareholders do not do their utmost to cause the actual investors to fail to invest; the nominal shareholders will transfer, pledge or otherwise dispose of the equity registered in their names; The personal debts owed by the nominal shareholders who are unable to pay off their debts, and the equity registered in the name of the nominal shareholders may face the risk of judicial freeze or even enforcement. To prevent the occurrence of risks, the following measures can be taken:

(1) Sign a written agreement and clarify relevant rights and obligations.

(2) Properly formulate the articles of association.

(3) Applying for equity pledge guarantee.

(4) Strict and harsh liability for breach of contract and notarization of the agreement.

(5) Clarify the way in which shareholder rights are exercised.

(6) Excluding the property rights of the notable shareholders as the shareholder, and appropriately restrict the rights of the shareholder.

(7) To raise objections in a timely manner when the shareholding held is preserved or enforced.

(8) Strengthen the awareness of evidence and pay attention to the preservation of the evidence of equity holding.