公司资本制度评判

【作者】 杜军；

【导师】 文敬； 高晋康；

【作者基本信息】 西南财经大学 ， 经济法， 2004， 硕士

【摘要】 公司资本制度作为现代公司法体系的三大基本制度之一，对公司的设立、运行有着极为重要的影响。经年的公司制度实践已经表明：对公司来讲，公司法设置灵活且合理的公司资本制度有利于公司便捷地设立和低成本地运行；而对一国来讲，合理的资本制度有利于吸引更多的投资，壮大本国企业的经济实力，从而增强本国经济的竞争力。从这一意义上讲，对公司资本制度进行专门的考察与研究实有必要。本文在结构上共分为五章：第一章“导论”主要是设定问题范围，界定法定资本制这一概念的内涵。第二章“我国法定资本制的理论基础及其质疑”是在对我国现行公司资本制度进行梳理的基础上挖掘出深藏其中的“资本信用”观念，并对这一观念的合理性提出质疑。第三章“公司资本规则法律干预分析”力图寻求公司法对公司资本制度进行干预的规律和合理程度。第四章“我国法定资本制检讨：资本形成规则角度的考察”是在资本形成的角度对我国现行的公司资本形成规则分别进行检讨。第五章“结语”是对本文的观点作出总结。从世界范围来看，当前存在着三种公司资本制度，即法定资本制、授权资本制和折中资本制。传统大陆法系学理都是从资本形成的角度，又尤其是从公司成立时资本发行的次数上的不同来对三种资本制度分别进行界定的。本文认为，这种界定方式存在着较大缺陷，它将三大资本制度的内涵界定得过分地狭隘，既不利于把握各种资本制度的精髓和深入挖掘其中的根本性问题，又不利于概念在不同法系间的通约，从而容易造成理解上的困惑。本文认为法定资本制与其说是一套固定、严格、划一的制度，不如说是围绕“法定资本”概念所形成的一系列概念网、规则群、制度链以及与之相适应的“法律对公司资本进行严格管制”的理念。而授权资本制则是与法定资本制相对应的一种“降低资本门槛，放松资本管制，赋予董事会资本运营自主权”的公司资本理念及相应的制度设计。正由于对法定资本制和授权资本<WP=4>制作了比传统定义更广义的理解，所以无论是法定资本制的变革，还是授权资本制的采行，都不是仅仅在公司法上对资本发行规则进行修改，而是要求“与公司资本的法律管制”相关的一系列制度的变革。在当前新一轮的引资竞争的热潮中，西方发达国家普遍对其公司法中的公司资本及财务制度进行修改，都力图打造出“更低的资本门槛、更具筹资机动性、更合理的资本管制”的制度环境。美国走在了公司资本制度改革的最前沿。自20世纪中叶持续至今，美国公司法体系中的公司资本制度处于频频修改之中，无论是州公司法还是示范公司法，均将“灵活、机动、自由、效率”作为公司资本制度改革的基本理念，在总体上体现出了“最大自由地效率化筹资，广泛的赋权性规则安排，董事会充分的商业判断自由”的特色。这一制度在很大程度上成为了美国公司制企业蓬勃发展的强劲支撑。欧盟公司法指令下各国自20世纪70年代以来对围绕“法定资本”概念形成的公司资本制度进行了归零化检讨，尽管最终各国的改革力度不一，但一个明显的趋势是在公司资本规则中以赋权性规则为主，放松不必要的资本管制，为资本的效率化形成与运作尽可能地提供最大的空间。而在商事立法上一直追奉德国、法国模式的日本、韩国和我国台湾地区公司法，近年来毅然采取美国模式，对公司资本制度进行了彻底地修改。反观我国，自1993年公司法颁布以来，公司资本制度未作任何修正，整个公司资本制度体现出了鲜明的法定资本制色彩，而且是最严格的法定资本制——实收资本制，其将“法律对资本严格管制”，“最大限度限制董事会（或公司自身）的资本分配权”体现得淋漓尽致。但是，公司资本制度的实践却一再昭示着这种最严格的法定资本制极大地阻碍了公司的迅速设立及公司机动地筹资。不仅如此，严格的法定资本制反而迫使不少公司弄虚作假、不少地方政府越权立法，从而使对公司法的突破与违反成为了见惯不惊的事实。公司法必须对这一现象作出回应。本文认为，从我国公司资本制度形成的历史轨迹来看，公司法上的法定资本制是围绕“注册资本”这一核心概念而形成的。我们的立法之所以强调注册资本的核心地位，乃是基于一个基本的理念，即公<WP=5>司注册资本是公司偿债能力的标志，是债权人权利的总担保，换言之，注册资本标识着公司的信用。但事实上，“公司端以资本为信”是一个难以成立的命题，帐面上的资本数额对债权人债权最终的实现并无太大的意义。从对债权的最终担保来看，公司对外承担责任的范围取决于其拥有的资产，而不取决于其拥有的资本。公司的注册资本再大，也不能扩大公司的偿债范围，公司的注册资本再小，也不能缩小公司的责任范围。通常情况下，公司经营存在的时间越长，资产与资本之间的差额越大，以至于资产与资本完全脱节，严格的资本维持原则并不能得到贯彻，所以注册资本的这种事前防范功能消亡殆尽。另一方面，资本只是资产负债表右栏中的一个静态数字，假定它是可信的，但用处也不大，它不能反映公司当前的、即时的偿债能力。而债权人关心的恰恰是公司偿还长、短期债务的能力。尤其是对银行来讲，由于债务须用现金偿还，银行已逐渐地意识到它们最关心的应该更多还原

【Abstract】 As one of three fundamental systems of modern corporation law, the capital systems of corporation have significant impact on the establishment and management of corporation. Abundant practices of corporation systems have demonstrated that reasonable capital system will greatly favour corporation’s establishment and management as well as accelerate to attract more investors. This thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter One, “Introduction”, aims to confine the range of issues and define the connotation of the concept “legal capital system”. Chapter Two, “To query the theoretic foundation of our legal capital system ”, generalizes the idea of “capital credit” from our capital system, then query its rationality. Chapter Three , “Legal intervention to capital rules” , tries to find out the regular pattern and reasonable degree of legal intervention. Chapter Four , “To review our current legal capital system at the point of capital raising”, is to review our subsidiary rules of capital raising. Chapter Five, “Conclusion”, summarizes the opinions of this thesis . Now there are three capital systems in the world: the legal capital system, the authorized capital system and the compromising capital system, which are respectively defined according to the difference of the frequency in capital- issued at the point of capital formation. The thesis holds that many defects lie in the above methods of definition for their narrow understandings of the capital system, which detriment a lot in both further research to those basic issues of corporation capital systems and correspond between concepts. Indeed, the legal capital system is rather a serious of net of principles ,concepts and rules around the core concept “legal capital ” and a kind of strict idea of capital control by law than a set of fixed strict and routine systems. Meanwhile, compared <WP=9>with the legal capital system, the authorized capital system is the other corporation capital idea and system which claims descending the threshold of capital, loosing control of capital and endowing the directors’ board with the decisive power of capital’s management. In a broader sense, it means not only the amending of issuing rules of capital but also the reforms of all rules relative to legal control of corporation capital in the process of capital system’s reforms.In the present transformation’s flows of capital systems, those developed countries and regions such as the U.S, the E.U , all make it the foundmental idea of the reform that corporation capital system should show “more effective in collecting capital, much enabling rules and much freedom of business judge”. As far as our corporation law is concerned, the corporation capital system hasn’t been revised since it was established in 1993 so that the whole capital system witnesses the clear characteristies of most strict legal capital system ----exact receiving capital system, which embodies tight control of law over capital as well as the utmost limit over the directors’ board on the capital’s distributive power . Nevertheless, the practices of capital system have been making it clear to all that strict legal capital system greatly impedes the rapid establishment of corporation and the mobile raising funds. Furthermore , despite of breaching in a large degree the corporation law, a few of corporations play tricks in raising money and some regional government make regulations beyond their power, which claim our corporation law to respond promptly. The legal capital systems are formed encircling the core concept “registered capital” that is regarded as a sign of capability for a corporation to pay its debt. In other words, registered capital signifies the credit of corporation. This thesis doesn’t think that registered capital symbolizes the credit of corporation. On the contrary, there are many differences between registered capital and corporation credit. It is really <WP=10>the assets rather than the capital that signify the corporation credit.This thesis states t更多还原