中英法律揭开公司“面纱”的比较研究

A Comparative Study on China-Britain Legal Ways Revealing the "Veil" of Company

2006年我国新修改的公司法生效,这部新公司法的亮点之一是开始注重权利的平衡,这点恰恰是1993年公司法所忽略的。在平衡股东和公司债权人利益方面,新公司法第20条第3款一直备受关注,该款允许法院在股东滥用法人独立地位和有限责任并给债权人带来严重损害的时候揭开法人的"面纱",或者称为否认法人人格。英国是最早产生法人格否定的判例法的国家之一,其制度相对较为完善,英国公司法中的揭开公司"面纱"是通过一系列成文法和判例确定的,而中国公司法仅用了一款对揭开公司"面纱"进行了规定,难免用语过于模糊和概括。因此,文章试图从英国公司法角度对我国公司法第20条第3款的规定进行研究。

In the year of 2006,China＇s newly amended company law came into force.One of the unique features of the 2006 company law is the attempt in the balancing of interests,which was neglected by the 1993 company law.Article 20（3）,which entitles the court to hold the shareholders responsible for indemnifying the creditors by abusing the independent status of legal person or shareholders＇ limited liability,is a typical vehicle in balancing the interest between the company＇s shareholders and creditors among the provisions of the new company law.Unlike common law where the grounds for ＂revealing the corporate veil＂ were provided by a series of cases with specific circumstances,a provision in a statute such as Article 20 usually causes trouble because of its ambiguous wording and inflexibility.Thus,it tries to understand Article 20（3）through the perspective of the company law of the United Kingdom,one of the first common law countries that started the practice of ＂lifting（or piercing）the corporate veil＂.