香港新《公司條例》－－變革與期待

Hong Kong's New Companies Ordinance: Reform and Further Expectations

2014年3月3日新的香港《公司條例》正式生效，引領香港公司法制進入了全新的發展階段，成為香港公司法現代化和鞏固提升香港國際商業金融地位的重要里程碑。香港在1994年只有38萬家註冊公司，但到2014年底香港已成為超過120萬家公司的註冊地，發展為受到國際投資者高度重視的地區，按照《香港基本法》，香港保留原有的資本主義制度和法律體制，特區政府應提供適當的經濟和法律環境鼓勵投資、技術進步並開發新興產業，以保持香港的國際金融中心地位。新的《公司條例》為香港在「一國兩制」環境下繼續以其普通法特色發展公司法提供了方向；不僅結束了香港公司法長期滯後的狀態，為其在全球化競爭中打造了新的競爭優勢，而且成為世界範圍公司法改革浪潮的一部分，並提供了借鑒創新的實踐。由於新例剛剛付諸實施其適用性、實用性和效益性仍有待檢驗和觀察，新的司法判例也才剛剛出現，故本文僅對香港新《公司條例》作一個宏觀的述評，共包括四個部分，首先對香港《公司條例》修改的背景和進程進行簡要的回顧，第二部分介紹新《公司條例》的主要變革和創新，第三部分考察香港作為普通法域，在公司法發展中立法和司法的互動；最後提出一些香港公司法發展仍然面臨的挑戰。

The entry into force of the new Companies Ordinance of Hong Kong on March 3, 2014 has modernized its corporate law regime and marked its new development stage a an international financial and business hub. By 2015 Hong Kong domiciled more than 12 million companies representing a dramatic increase from merely 380,000 in 1994. Under the Basic Law, the Hong Kong government should provide an economic and legal environment for encouraging investments technological progress and development of new industries as well as its status of an international financial center with the preserved capitalist system and the common law tradition. Against this backdrop the new Companies Ordinance has charted a new development direction under ＂One Country, Two Systems＂ for innovating institutional edges in the globalized competition and made its contribution to the worldwide company law reform. However, given its fresh implementation the applicability, utility and effectiveness of the Ordinance still need to be tested and observed. This article provides a general review of the new Ordinance with four parts. Section One briefly sets out the background of the overhaul; Section Two reflects the major reforms and innovation; Section Three examines the interplay of the written law and the judicial practice in Hong Kong as a common law jurisdiction and finally, some issues unsettled and challenge facing the new regime will be highlighted in Section Four.