外资私募人民币基金设立的新突破.doc

一、 外资参与中国私募股权基金之组织形式的选择 目前中国并未在国家层面出台任何专门针对私募股权基金（以下简称“私募基金”、“股权投资基金”、“股权基金”或“基金”）的设立、募集、管理的法律法规，因此，现阶段在中国设立基金可以依据有关组织结构的现有法律法规，采取信托制、契约制、公司制和有限合伙制的组织形式。 但由于信托制基金无法由一般民间投资者发起设立；契约制基金缺少一个确定的基金实体；公司制基金在组织机构、基金管理权、基金资金到位时间以及税收方面均须符合公司法的相关强制性规定，并且与私募基金的管理模式、运作流程和灵活程度方面存在不相适应性，因此，实践中，绝大多数基金投资人均采取有限合伙企业的模式设立基金；只有少数资金雄厚的大型国有企业，出于资金安全的考虑，才会选择设立公司制基金。 基于上述原因，外国投资者在中国境内参与设立基金时倾向于采取有限合伙的组织形式。 二、 外资参与设立有限合伙制私募股权基金的法律障碍 （一） 外国投资者直接投资设立有限合伙基金的法律障碍 虽然有限合伙制一直是私募基金投资人最为青睐的商业组织形式，但在2010年3月1日前，外国投资者却无法直接在中国境内投资设立有限合伙制私募基金。其根本原因为2006年修订的中华人民共和国合伙企业法（以下简称“合伙企业法”）第一百零八条规定，“外国企业或者个人在中国境内设立合伙企业的管理办法由国务院规定”。 （二） “外资基金管理公司基金”模式及相关法律障碍 鉴于长期以来，在中国境内无法设立外商直接投资的合伙企业，因此，实践中逐渐出现了一种外资参与设立基金的变通方式，即“外资基金管理公司基金”模式。这种模式的架构为：外国投资者首先在境内设立一家外资公司，由该外资公司作为普通合伙人，招募境内其他投资人作有限合伙人，成立有限合伙制基金。 1“外资基金管理公司基金”模式在天津的实践 作为中国最早开展股权投资基金试点工作的地区之一，天津市对有外资参与的合伙制基金的政策思路是：成立有限合伙制基金要根据现行的合伙企业法进行，即全部合伙人均应为境内投资人（包括外商投资企业在内）。同时，国家并无法律法规成为普通合伙人的资格；相反，任何一个依法设立的企业，都有权开展对外投资活动，都有权跨行业开展对外投资（法律有特殊规定的除外），都有权作合伙企业的普通合伙人（合伙企业法规定，不得作合伙企业普通合伙人的主体仅包括国有企业、国有独资公司、上市公司以及公益性的事业单位、社会团体）。因此，只要不违反国家的强制性规定和禁止性规定，任何一个在中国境内依法设立的企业都可以设立有限合伙企业，并成为普通合伙人。又因为国家法律并未禁止有限合伙企业从事股权投资业务，因此，外国投资者可以通过“外资基金管理公司基金”模式在天津设立有限合伙制基金。 在外国投资者无法直接在中国设立合伙制基金的困境下，天津市的实践做法不失为一种可行的变通方式。 但这种模式仍然存在无法解决的障碍。 2“外资基金管理公司基金”模式的相关障碍 （1） 外汇监管体制下的结汇障碍 根据国家外汇管理局综合司关于完善外商投资企业外汇资本金支付结汇管理有关业务操作问题的通知（综汇发2008142号）（以下简称“142号文”）的规定，“外商投资企业的资本金结汇所得人民币资金，应当在政府审批部门批准的经营范围内使用，除另有规定外，结汇所得人民币资金不得用于境内股权投资”。因此，在“外资基金管理公司基金”模式下，即使外资基金管理公司和基金均可取得营业执照，外资基金管理公司仍然无法通过结汇方式，将外汇资本投入基金当中。 在现有外汇监管体系不变的前提下，此模式只能为基金带来境外优秀的管理团队，而不能为基金注入海外资本，故此模式下的基金只能被称作有外资背景的基金，而非真正的外资基金。 （2） 地方政策导向下的结构性障碍 和天津不同，上海、北京尽管已经明确允许设立外商投资的基金管理公司，但关于该外商投资的基金管理公司能否再投资作合伙制基金的普通合伙人，考虑到股权投资基金尚未对外资全面放开的因素，目前，两地主管部门尚无明确意见，当地实践中亦无先例。 上述结构性障碍使得“外资基金管理公司基金”模式在实践操作中仍然具有较大的地域局限性。 三、 对外资参与设立基金障碍的突破外商投资合伙基金 2009年11月25日，国务院颁布了外国企业或者个人在中国境内设立合伙企业管理办法（以下简称“办法”）。该办法自2010年3月1日起施行。 （一）外商投资合伙基金对原有结构性障碍的突破 首先，办法明确允许外国投资者在中国境内直接投资设立合伙企业，从而构成对合伙企业法项下只允许境内投资人设立合伙企业这一投资主体限制的突破，进而为外国投资者在中国境内设立有限合伙制基金提供了组织形式上法律依据。 其次，国家工商总局配合办法于2010年1月29日颁布的外商投资合伙企业登记管理规定（国家工商行政管理总局令第47号）（以下简称“规定”），明确了以投资为主要业务的外资合伙企业（其中，有限合伙制外资基金为其最典型的形式）的登记管辖问题。 第三，设立外资合伙基金，将不存在前文提到的“外资基金管理公司基金”模式下的结汇障碍。伴随合伙制基金对外资开放的前述相关法规、规章的出台，外汇资本应被允许以类比外商直接投资的方式，从海外直接投入到基金当中，从而实现海外资本直接参与中国基金产业的历史性突破。 最后，办法及规定在全国所有地区具有普遍适用性，因此，设立外资有限合伙制基金的可行性将不再以设立地为前提条件。这是对“外资基金管理公司基金”模式地区性结构障碍的突破。 （二）外商投资合伙基金制度的局限性 1外资准入限制 通过“外资基金管理公司基金”模式设立的合伙基金，在天津市的实践操作过程中，是被视为内资企业对待的，因而此类基金对外投资不受外资准入方面的监管。 规定第六十四条规定，“以投资为主要业务的外商投资合伙企业境内投资的，应当依照国家有关外商投资的法律、行政法规、规章办理”。这说明，不同于“外资基金管理公司基金”模式下的基金，外资合伙制基金在境内投资于已有企业或新设企业，均应当符合国家在外商投资方面的管理制度，包括但不限于，所投资领域应当符合外商投资产业指导目录的规定并应取得外资主管部门批准等。 2外汇监管限制 外国投资者对参与中国股权基金之所以具有极大热情，一个重要原因在于他们希望能够将大量海外外汇资本投入基金，并将外汇资本结汇，以获取人民币升值收益。 尽管外资基金模式可以实现将外汇资本直接投入基金当中的目的，但根据现有外汇监管体系，基金账户中的外汇资本不得结汇；并且，基金使用外汇对外投资，应当通过外汇境内划转的方式进行，亦不能结汇。 因此，外国投资者在中国投资设立合伙制基金，仍应当严格遵守中国的外汇监管规定。 （三）外商投资合伙基金的发展前景 办法第十四条规定，“国家对外国企业或者个人在中国境内设立以投资为主要业务的合伙企业另有规定的，依照其规定”。但截至目前，除上述国家工商总局的规定外，国家会否，以及将于何时出台有关以投资为主要业务的外资合伙企业的其他专门规定，依然是为业界关注的焦点。 另外，曾被探讨过很长时间的股权投资基金管理办法是否还会出台，其内容会否因办法及规定实施后而有所调整，也将拭目以待。The Legal Barriers and breakthroughs for Setup of Foreign Invested RMB Private Equity Fund in ChinaChen Yi, Gao GangI. Organizational Forms for Foreign Investors to Set up Private Equity Funds Up to now, China has no laws and regulations in the national level, which specifically govern the establishment, offer and management of private equity funds (hereinafter referred to as private equity fund, equity investment fund, or fund). Therefore, at present, the organizational forms of trust, contract, corporate and limited partnership are available for establishing a fund in China under existing laws and regulations on organizational forms. However, the fund in the form of trust cannot be established by normal private investors; the fund in the form of contract lacks a legal entity; the fund in the form of corporate must comply with the compulsory regulations on the organizational structure, management authority, the time to pay the investment into the fund and tax issues, and it is not compatible with the management mode, operation procedures and flexibility required by the private equity fund. Therefore, in practice, most investors prefer to establish the funds in the form of limited partnership; only a few large state-owned enterprises choose to set up the funds in the form of corporate due to their concern of the investment safety. In consideration of the reasons above, foreign investors also prefer to use limited partnership as the form of business organization to set up funds in China. II. The Legal Barriers for Foreign Investors to Set up Private Equity Funds of Limited Partnership 1. The legal barrier for foreign investors direct investment in private equity funds Limited Partnership is the favorite business organizational form to private equity investors, however, until March 1, 2010, foreign investors were unable to make direct investment to establish a private equity fund of limited partnership in China, fundamentally due to the provision of article 108 of the Law on Partnership Enterprises of the Peoples Republic of China as amended in 2006 (hereinafter referred to as the Partnership Law), which reads the administrative measures for the establishment of partnership enterprises in China by foreign enterprises or individuals shall be provided by the State Council. 2. Foreign Invested Fund Management Company Fund Approach and the Relevant Legal Barriers Because, for a long time, foreign investors were not allowed to directly set up partnerships in China, in practice, there gradually appeared an alternative approach, foreign invested fund management company - fund. The structure of this approach is: foreign investor first sets up a foreign invested company in China, and then such company, as a general partner, invites other domestic investors as limited partners to establish a limited partnership fund. (1) Tianjins Practice of Foreign Invested Fund Management Company - Fund Approach As one of the first places to carry out the pilot project of equity investment funds, Tianjins policy reasoning for the partnership funds involved by foreign investors is: according to the Partnership Law, to set up a fund of limited partnership, all the partners should be domestic investors (including foreign invested enterprise). At the same time, no law or regulation limits the qualifications to be a general partner in the fund; in contrast, any lawfully established enterprise can make investment, invest in other industries (except otherwise provided by the law), and can act as general partner of a limited partnership (according to the Partnership Law, state-owned enterprises, wholly state-owned companies, listed companies and public welfare undertakings or public organizations cannot act as general partner). Therefore, so long as there is no violation of compulsory regulations or prohibitions, any lawfully established enterprise in China is entitled to set up a limited partnership and act as the general partner. In addition, no law forbids the limited partnership to pursue equity investment, thus foreign investors can set up funds of limited partnership through the approach of foreign invested fund management company fund. While the foreign investors were unable to directly set up partnership fund in China, Tianjins practice is a feasible alternative. However, such approach still has its own insolvable legal barriers. (2) The Relevant Legal Barriers for the Approach of Foreign Invested Fund Management Company Fund i. The foreign exchange settlement barrier under the policy of foreign exchange supervision In accordance with the Notice of the General Affairs Department of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on the Relevant Operating Issues concerning the Improvement of the Administration of Payment and Settlement of Foreign Currency Capital of Foreign funded Enterprises (No. 142 2008 of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange) (hereinafter referred to as the Notice No. 142), RMB currency obtained from the settlement of foreign currency capital of a foreign invested enterprise shall be used within its business scope as approved by relevant governmental authorities and unless as otherwise provided, such RMB currency obtained form settlement shall not be used in domestic equity investment. Therefore, under this approach, even though the foreign invested fund management company and the fund can both get business licenses, the foreign invested fund management company still cannot transfer its investment into the fund through foreign exchange settlement. Under the existing foreign exchange supervision policy, such approach can only bring to the fund excellent management, rather than foreign capital investment, from abroad; accordingly, such type of fund can only be regarded as the fund with foreign background, not a real foreign invested fund. ii. The structural barrier under local policies Unlike Tianjin, although Shanghai and Beijing have clearly permitted the establishment of foreign invested fund management company, the local authorities have no clear opinion on the issue that whether the foreign invested fund management companies can reinvest into and act as general partners of, limited partnership funds; nor do they have any precedent in practice up to now. Their main concern is that the private equity business is still not wholly opened to the foreign investors. The above structural barrier makes the approach of foreign invested fund management company fund still have geographical limitation in practice. III. Breakthrough of the Barriers of Fund Establishment by Foreign Investors Foreign Investment Partnership Fund On November 25, 2009, the State Council promulgated the Administrative Measures on the Establishment of Partnership Enterprises by Foreign Enterprises or Individuals in China effective as of March 1, 2010 (hereinafter referred to as the Measures). 1. Breakthrough of the Prior Structural Barrier by the Foreign Invested Partnership Fund First, the Measures allows foreign investors to directly set up partnerships in China, which constitutes a breakthrough of the limitation on the investors under the Partnership Law, i.e., partnerships can only be established by domestic investors. Therefore, it provides a legal basis in respect of organization form for the foreign investors, who intend to set up funds in the form of limited partnership. Second, to implement the Measures, State Administration for Industry & Commerce promulgated the Administration Provisions on Registration of Foreign Invested Partnership Enterprises (Order No. 47 of State Administration for Industry & Commerce) (hereinafter referred to as the Provisions), specifying the registration rule for the foreign invested partnerships with the investment as their main business (of which, foreign invested fund of limited partnership is the most typical form). Third, there will be no barrier of foreign exchange settlement as mentioned above in the approach of foreign invested fund management company fund. With the promulgation of the above regulations and rules related to opening the limited partnership fund to foreign investors, the investment in the form of foreign currency shall be allowed to be transferred directly into the fund from abroad, in a way analogous to foreign direct investment. This is a historic breakthrough to allow foreign investors to participate directly in Chinas private equity industry. At last, the Measures and the Provisions apply in the national level, therefore, the possibility to set up limited partnership funds will not depend on the proposed registration place. This is a breakthrough to the geographically structural barrier in the approach of foreign invested fund management company fund. 2. Limitations of the Foreign Invested Partnership Fund (1) The Limitation of Foreign Investment In Tianjin, the partnership funds through the approach of foreign invested fund management company fund are not treated as foreign invested enterprises, so the investment by such funds will not be supervised by the policy of foreign investment. Article 64 of the Provisions provides that the domestic investment by foreign invested partnership enterprises, having investment as their main business, shall be subject to the States relevant laws, regulations and rules. This implies that unlike the funds set up through the approach of foreign invested fund management company fund, when foreign invested partnership funds invest into existing enterprises or set up new enterprises, they must comply with the States administrative policies on foreign investment, including but not limited to that the proposed invested industries shall be consistent with the Catalogue of Foreign Investment Industries and that the permissions from the authorities in charge of foreign investment shall be obtained. (2) Administration of Foreign Exchange Foreign investors are having tremendous passion for Chinese private equity funds. One important reason is that they hope to invest large scale foreign currency from abroad into the funds, settle it into RMB and receive the proceeds from the appreciation of RMB. Although the investment in the form of foreign currency can be transferred into the fund under the approach of foreign invested fund, under present foreign exchange administration system, the foreign currency capital in the account of the fund cannot be settled into RMB. In addition, when the fund uses its foreign currency for investment, such investment shall be domestically transferred, by maintaining its form of foreign currency, instead of being settled into RMB. Therefore, when foreign investors set up partnership funds, they still need to strictly follow the regulations on administration of foreign exchange in China. 3. The Prospect of the Development of Foreign Invested Partnership Funds Article 14 of the Measures provides that where there are rules otherwise stipulated by the State, partnerships, which are established in China by foreign enterprises or individuals, and which have investment as their main business, shall comply with such rules. However, to date, except for the Provisions issued by the State Administration for Industry & Commerce, whether or when the State will issue other special rules for foreign invested partnership enterprises with investment as their main business, will remain a focal point in this industry. In addition, whether the long-time discussed Private Equity Fund Management Measures will be passed, or whether its contents will be adjusted after the promulgation of the Measures and the P