We often hear from foreign investors that they have paid various expenses, such as travel, rent, agency service fees, etc., from their personal accounts when managing their business operations. Is this compliant?

我们常常听到一些外国投资人说他们在经营公司业务时，从自己的私人账户支付了各种各样的费用，例如旅行交通，房租，代理服务费等等。这样合规么？

This situation falls under the category of shareholders providing advances for the company's operations and cannot be equated with the shareholders having made actual paid-in capital contributions.

这种情况属于股东为公司经营垫资，不能等同于股东已进行实缴出资。

01

Shareholders' actual paid-in registered capital must comply with legal forms and procedures

股东实缴注册资本需要符合法定形式、履行法定程序

1. The actual monetary contributions must be fully deposited into the bank account opened by the limited liability company.
2. The actual contributions should be substantiated by relevant shareholder resolutions and comply with the provisions of the company’s articles of association or agreement.
3. It is necessary to apply to the company registration authority for the registration of changes in actual paid-in capital and for filing the articles of association in accordance with the law.
4. Actual contributions must be disclosed in the form of an annual report in the enterprise credit information publicity system.

From this, it can be concluded that the behavior of shareholders paying on behalf of the company, i.e., providing advances, cannot be directly recognized as shareholders’ actual paid-in capital contributions.

1. 将实缴货币出资足额存入有限责任公司在银行开设的账户；
2. 实缴出资应当形成相关的股东会决议，并符合公司章程或协议的约定；
3. 需要向公司登记机关依法申请办理注册资本实缴变更登记及公司章程备案；
4. 需要在企业信用信用信息公示系统中以企业年度报告书形式对实缴出资情况进行公示。

由此得知，股东代公司付款即垫资的行为不能直接认定为股东实缴出资。

02

When shareholders provide advances for the company's operations, it is generally considered a loan from the shareholders to the company.

股东为公司经营垫资，一般会认定为股东对公司的借款

In practice, if shareholders inject funds into the company before the deadline for their subscribed capital contributions, and this does not go through the appropriate procedures to be recognized as shareholder contributions, the assets of the company and those of the shareholders are treated as independent. This situation is usually handled according to regular creditor-debtor relationships, with the shareholder being the creditor and the company being the debtor.

In judicial practice, courts tend to support the view that if shareholders pay funds to a third party on behalf of the company, and there are no corresponding financial documents or the company has not recognized that amount as a "contribution," then it is generally considered a loan from the shareholders to the company. In such cases, the shareholders will have corresponding creditor rights.

实务中，认缴出资期限届满前，股东向公司投入资金，在未通过相应程序转变为股东出资的情况下，因公司财产与股东财产相互独立，一般会按照普通的债权债务关系处理，即股东为债权人，公司为债务人。

在司法实践中，法院倾向性裁判意见也认为，股东代公司向第三方支付资金，若无相应的财务凭证，公司亦未对该款项作“出资”追认，则原则上认定为股东对公司的借款，股东享有相应的债权。

03

Shareholders can change the nature of advances into actual capital contributions to the company through a debt-to-equity swap.

股东可通过债转股方式，变更垫资性质为对公司的实缴出资

According to Article 7 of the "Capital Registration Management Regulations," a creditor may convert its legally held claims against a company established in China into equity in the company; upon conversion, the company should increase its registered capital.

根据《资本登记管理规定》第7条：债权人可以将其依法享有的对在中国境内设立的公司的债权，转为公司股权；债权转为公司股权的，公司应当增加注册资本。

The specific process for a debt-to-equity swap is as follows:

1. The company modifies its articles of association through a shareholder resolution to stipulate that the shareholders providing advances will contribute to the company through their claims.
2. The shareholder providing the advance signs an agreement with the company to convert its held claims into equity (i.e., debt-to-equity swap), and agrees that this will serve as capital.
3. A third party is engaged to evaluate the claims.
4. The company accepts the claims, which are not included in the company's total income. Furthermore, as both the claims and obligations are attributed to the company, they will offset each other.

具体债转股流程为：

1. 公司通过股东会决议修改公司章程，约定垫资股东以债权对公司出资；
2. 垫资股东与公司签订协议，将其持有的公司债权划入公司(即债转股)，并约定作为资本金；
3. 聘请第三方对债权进行评估；
4. 公司接受该笔债权，可不计入公司的收入总额。并且由于债权和债务均归于公司，债权债务相互抵消。

04

Professional Recommendations

专业建议

To eliminate the risks associated with all parties, the following improvement measures can be considered:

1. Strengthen the internal governance system of the company by using documents such as capital contribution certificates and shareholder resolutions to clarify the relationship between "investment" and "loan."
2. When the company lacks the cash flow necessary for its operations, shareholders should resolve the issue by contributing to the company’s registered capital instead of providing advances. Providing advances does not equal a capital contribution, and when the company faces external debt risks, shareholders who provide advances may risk being sued by creditors.
3. Strictly require shareholders to make proportional contributions. If advances are truly necessary, all shareholders and the company should formalize the "loan" procedures to avoid unnecessary disputes in the future.

为了杜绝各方相关风险的产生，可参考下列完善措施：

1. 完善公司内部治理制度，通过出资证明书、股东会决议等文书来确定“投资”或“借贷”的关系；
2. 当公司缺乏经营所需现金流时，股东应当通过缴纳公司注册资本的方式，而不是通过垫资方式解决。垫资不等于出资，当公司出现外部债务风险时，垫资股东面临被债权人起诉的风险；
3. 严格要求股东按比例出资，确有必要垫资的，应要求各股东和公司办理“借款”手续，避免未来不必要的诉争。

Author 作者 | Alex