德國關聯企業破產規制的最新發展及其啟示

A Research on the Latest Development of the Regulations on Bankruptcy of Company Groups in Germany

關聯企業是市場經濟中的一道獨特風景，構成關聯企業的各個成員在法律上具有獨立性，在經濟上互相融合具有一體性，這種「法律上的多體和經濟上的一體」的獨特現象理應受到法律的特別對待。在關聯企業破產時，按照中國大陸現行破產法的「一企一案」原則，應針對每個破產企業開啟一道破產程式，如此一來必將損害關聯企業的一體性，以及其內部蘊藏的協同效應，造成企業重整的困難和不必要的經濟損失。這種法律規定和經濟現實之間的緊張關係，要求制定相關法律規制關聯企業破產。關聯企業破產規制主要有實體合併和程式協調兩種模式，中國大陸實務界和法學界過度關注前者，而忽視了適用於絕大多數關聯企業破產的後者。適逢德國公布立法草案欲對關聯企業破產進行規制，德國立法草案明確拒絕實體合併，要求引入程式協調制度。本文即研究德國關聯企業破產規制的最新發展，以期能為大陸關於關聯企業破產程式之建構和立法提供借鑑。

The affiliated enterprise shows an unique scenery in the market economy, the members of the group are legally independent, while economically integrated with each other. This special “legal multiplicity and economic unity” phenomenon deserves a special treatment in law. In accordance with the “One entity, one procedure” principle of the Chinese Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, a separate bankruptcy procedure should be started for each bankrupt enterprise in the case of bankruptcy of affiliated enterprises, which would harm the affiliated enterprises as an unity and damage its internal synergy, furthermore, it would cause difficulties in the reorganization of the affiliated enterprises, and lead to unnecessary economic losses. The tension between the law and economic reality requires the development of relevant laws and regulations relating to the bankruptcy of enterprises. There are mainly two modes for the regulation of bankrupt affiliated enterprises: substantive consolidation and procedure coordination, the practices and the literature in the Mainland China pay too much attention to the former, while ignoring the latter, which should be applied in most bankruptcy cases of the affiliated enterprises. Coincidentally, the German legislators have submitted the draft legislation on the bankruptcy of the affiliated enterprises, which explicitly rejected substantive consolidation, but requires the introduction of the procedure coordination mechanism into German law. This paper reflects the latest development of German regulations on the bankruptcy of affiliated enterprises, in order to provide some comparisons for the construction and legislative improvement of the bankruptcy procedure of affiliated enterprises in mainland China.