(1)《国务院办公厅关于建立外国投资者并购境内企业安全审查制度的通知》第1条第3款规定:“外国投资者取得实际控制权,是指外国投资者通过并购成为境内企业的控股股东或实际控制人。包括下列情形:…… 2. 数个外国投资者在并购后持有的股份总额合计在50%以上……”或可以看出,这里采取的是“身份控制标准”。同时,可能需要注意的是,因为《草案征求意见稿》正式提出将国家安全审查提升到法律层面,《草案征求意见稿》的“控制”定义也应及于国家安全审查,所以在制定“控制标准”时也需考虑到这个方面的问题。
(2)《加拿大投资法》(Investment Canada Act)在第3条(Definition)中对“加拿大人”进行了定义,其中规定“受加拿大人控制的实体”也为“加拿大人”;同时,该法在第26条(Rules respecting control of entities )对“控制的标准”进行了详细的规定(摘录如下),根据该等规定,似乎可以看出《加拿大投资法》在判定控制时采用的也是“身份控制标准”(需要说明的是,笔者的此点理解尚需依赖加拿大律师的意见)。以下请见《加拿大投资法》第26条(1)的内容(法规来源:加拿大政府网站):
http://www.canada.ca/en/index.html
26. (1) Subject to subsections (2.1) to (2.2), (2.31) and (2.32), for the purposes of this Act,
(a) where one Canadian or two or more members of a voting group who areCanadians own a majority of the voting interests of an entity, it is a Canadian-controlled entity;
(b) where paragraph (a) does not apply and one non-Canadian or two or more members of a voting group who are non-Canadians own a majority of the voting interests of an entity, it is not a Canadian-controlled entity;
(c) where paragraphs (a) and (b) do not apply and a majority of the voting interests of an entity are owned by Canadians and it can be established that the entity is not controlled in fact through the ownership of its voting interests by one non-Canadian or by a voting group in which a member or members who are non-Canadians own one-half or more of those voting interests of the entity owned by the voting group, it is a Canadian-controlled entity; and
(d) where paragraphs (a) to (c) do not apply and less than a majority of the voting interests of an entity are owned by Canadians, it is presumed not to be a Canadian-controlled entity unless the contrary can be established by showing that
(i) the entity is controlled in fact through the ownership of its voting interests by one Canadian or by a voting group in which a member or members who are Canadians own a majority of those voting interests of the entity owned by the voting group, or
(ii) in the case of an entity that is a corporation or limited partnership, the entity is not controlled in fact through the ownership of its voting interests and two-thirds of the members of its board of directors or, in the case of a limited partnership, two-thirds of its general partners, are Canadians.
二、外国投资者的类型化研究
谈及控制则对象应为企业,如果从控制的角度来类型化企业投资者,则根据《草案征求意见稿》的相关内容,可能主要有以下几种类型:
企业 |
外国投资者 控制 |
中国投资者 控制 |
外国投资者和中国投资者 共同控制 |
境外企业 |
外国投资者 |
视为中国投资者 |
可能会被视为外国投资者 |
境内企业 |
视为外国投资者 |
中国投资者 |
可能会被视为外国投资者 |
就上述六种类型,其中中国投资者控制的境内企业的投资并不适用《外国投资法》,而其他五种类型,则可能都需适用《外国投资法》。
就需适用《外国投资法》的五种投资者,在涉及负面清单以外的投资项目时,都不需申请准入许可,即在此时,可能并不需要就该等企业的“控制权”进行判断;而在涉及负面清单以内的投资项目时:
(1) 如果该企业为境外企业,则该企业需要申请外资准入许可;而如果该企业认为自己受中国投资者控制,则其在申请准入许可时,可申请“视为中国投资者”的认定(《草案征求意见稿》第45条【实际控制情形下视为内资】);
(2) 如果该企业为境内企业(视为外国投资者的情形),则该企业需要申请外资准入许可;
如何在外国投资法领域引入“控制标准”可能需要综合考虑很多因素,如外国投资的行为特点、对外国投资行为的规制边界、《外国投资法》所欲实现的法律目的、外国投资的管理模式、安全与效率之间的平衡、外国投资法与其他法律之间的衔接等等;同时,各种不同的情况、利益、价值等也纠缠在了一起,而如何理顺这些问题,在原则性之外又保留一定的灵活性,可能需要考验的是立法者的立法技巧和智慧。(完)
王武为环球律师事务所北京办公室的律师。(E-mail: wangwu@glo.com.cn)