公司减资未通知债权人时的股东责任认定

Determination of Shareholders’ Liability when a Company Reduces its Capital without Notifying Creditors

《公司法(修订草案)》第220条规定了公司减资时的通知义务,但是未规定公司违反通知义务时股东的赔偿责任。通过对司法案例的分析及学术观点的梳理,归纳出股东责任认定的三个步骤,即判断是否违反通知义务,认定减资行为的效力及股东内部责任分配,以期为司法实务提供有益指导。明确何为违反通知义务需要厘清通知对象以及通知方式两个基本要素,减资行为效力的认定直接影响债权人是否可以要求股东承担赔偿责任,而股东内部责任分配的确定则取决于请求权基础与赔偿范围。

Article 220 of the Company Law(Revised Draft) stipulates the obligation of notification when the company reduces its capital, but it does not stipulate the liability of shareholders for compensation when the company violates the obligation of notification.Through the analysis of judicial cases and sorting out of academic views, three steps of identifying shareholders’ liability are summarized, that is, to determine whether the notification obligation is violated, to identify the effectiveness of capital reduction and the distribution of shareholders’ internal responsibility, so as to provide useful guidance for judicial practice. It is necessary to clarify two basic elements, namely, the notification object and the notification method, to clarify what the violation of the notification obligation is. The recognition of the effectiveness of capital reduction directly affects whether creditors can ask shareholders to bear the compensation liability, while the determination of the distribution of shareholders’ internal responsibility depends on the basis of the right of claim and the scope of compensation.