A legal and economic analysis of goals of reorganization of listed companies under the enterprise bankruptcy law of the PRC

Abstract

The enactment of the 2006 Enterprise Bankruptcy Law of the PRC marked a new stage in China’s bankruptcy regime by the inclusion of a new reorganization system. The first 5 years of the implementation of the law and further scholarly research, however, have exposed the problems that underlie it, especially those concerning the reorganization of listed companies. The pressing need to address these problems calls for a better understanding of the goals of reorganization. This is because it is by applying the criterion of what best serves the desired reorganization goals that distinguishes an optimal from a less-than-optimal reorganization law and sense from nonsense in its implementation. Thus far, however, no scholar has carried out systemic research of China’s reorganization goals. This thesis, set out in two parts, attempts to fill this gap in the literature for both the dynamics of reorganization legislation and the effectiveness of reorganization implementation in China.

Employing the methods of theoretical analysis, economic analysis of law, case analysis and comparative study, the first part of this thesis argues that preserving going-concern surplus and fair distribution are the two fundamental goals of reorganization in China. Although protecting community interest is important, it should be considered only an incidental goal of reorganization.

The second part of this thesis examines how the most important aspects of the current reorganization system under the EBL can be improved so as to better achieve the two fundamental goals in reality. As to the goal of preserving going-concern surplus, it discusses the early rescue, preservation and sale of the viable parts of the business in a distressed enterprise. As to the goal of fair distribution, it analyzes both the distributional boundaries and rules of reorganization, with a focus on the absolute priority rule. How to balance the values underlying the two fundamental goals of reorganization and the practical impediments to the implementation of the reorganization law are then discussed. Both a sound grasp of the reorganization goals under the EBL and a deep understanding of why and how specific reorganization mechanisms and provisions exist to serve these goals are needed. Only with such understanding, together with a grasp of the relationships between different fundamental goals and different mechanisms and provisions, can the efforts aiming to improve China’s reorganization system achieve the desired level of effectiveness as a whole.