公司法利润分配规则的逻辑结构与现实约束--基于法律与会计交叉分析的视角

The Logical Structure and Realistic Constraint of Profit Distribution of Company Law: an Interdisciplinary Perspective of Law and Accounting

利润分配规则作为公司法中最具技术特征的部分,一方面展现了公司法传统资本规则的逻辑架构,另一方面受制于财务会计对于可分配金额计算模式的现实约束,后者又存在以德国为代表的利益相关者导向会计模式和以英美为代表的股东导向会计模式。我国现行公司法下的利润分配规则相对完整地保留了资本维持理念以及“资本-盈余”两分的基本逻辑,但存在语义含混不清、法定公积金过严以及资本性交易未获同等财源限制等问题。此外,我国现行财务会计准则也不是一个计算可分配金额的合适标尺,但鲜有学者关注利润分配规则下公司法与财务会计的协调。比较法上,德、英、美三国分别形成了“资本维持+秘密公积金”“资本维持+利润调整”“清偿能力+灵活会计标准”三类各具特色的利润分配规则体系,它们超越了在“资本维持”与“清偿能力”两类模式之间简单选边的立法政策。因此,面对我国即将到来的公司法大修,新的利润分配规则不仅面临资本维持与清偿能力两种法定标准之间的选择,而且更需要(无论采纳何种模式)有效嵌入财务会计规则的现实约束。

There are two basic premises before making legislative choices between capital maintenance rule and the solvency on dividend restriction of company law.Firstly,it is necessary to make a thorough interpretation on the logical structure of the rules.The logic behind the capital maintenance rule,which China now has adopted,is a“capital-surplus”division on company’s net asset.We can see that China’s Company Law has successfully restricted capital from distribution,which is different from what has happened in the United States.However,the Chinese version of capital maintenance rule reveals its own problems,as it is ambiguous,overly rigid and inconsistent to some degree.Secondly,dividend law is facing a realistic constraint from financial accounting as lawful dividend is calculated by accounting rules.Compared with the shareholder-modeled,true and fair value accounting,the stakeholder-modeled,prudential accounting is a better yardstick of determining distributable profits.Germany,United Kingdom and United States have formulated very distinctive systems on the coordination of law and accounting,while all of them have their own problems.If we look back to China,we could find an apparent discordance between law and accounting on dividend issue that almost no scholar has realized.The future adjustment and improvement based on the logic structure and realistic constraint are essential on China Company Law revision.