When a company is in financial distress, directors face difficult choices. Should they trade on to try to “trade out” of the company’s financial difficulties or should they file for insolvency? If they act too soon, will creditors complain that they should have done more to save the business? A recent English High Court case raises the prospect of directors potentially being held to account for decisions that “merely postpone the inevitable.”

2024年4月，国务院印发了《关于加强监管防范风险推动资本市场高质量发展的若干意见》，明确加大并购重组改革力度，多措并举活跃并购重组市场。资本市场中产业链并购以及跨界并购已然成为上市公司实现产业整合、市场扩张的重要途径之一。本文拟从上市公司重大资产重组角度出发，对可能影响上市公司重大资产重组成功的事项予以探讨。

一、上市公司重大资产重组的界定

上市公司重大资产重组是指上市公司及其控股或者控制的公司在日常经营活动之外的购买、出售资产或者通过其他方式进行资产交易达到规定的标准，导致上市公司的主营业务、资产、收入发生重大变化的资产交易行为。其中资产交易的方式，除了购买、出售资产外，还包括与他人新设企业、对已设立的企业增资或者减资；受托经营、租赁其他企业资产或者将经营性资产委托他人经营、租赁；接受附义务的资产赠与或者对外捐赠资产等。上市公司通常对购买、出售资产是否构成重大资产重组较为熟悉，在与他人新设企业、对已设立的企业增资、受托经营、租赁其他企业资产行为中是否构成重大资产重组问题，因市场案例相对较少，故较为陌生。笔者理解其核心还是在于是否实质构成购买、出售资产的判断。

A Hong Kong court has refused to sanction a scheme of arrangement, saying that practitioners should explain the key terms and effect of any proposed restructuring in a way which can be easily understood by the creditors and the court.

In Re Sino Oiland Gas Holdings Ltd [2024] HKCFI 1135, the Honourable Madam Justice Linda Chan refused to sanction a scheme of arrangement, saying that creditors had been given insufficient information about the restructuring and the scheme that would enable them to make an informed decision at the scheme meeting.

The Hong Kong Court of Appeal has finally laid to rest the vexed issue of whether an arbitration agreement or a winding-up petition should take precedence in an insolvency situation. In two parallel decisions, the Court of Appeal ruled that an arbitration agreement should be treated in the same way as an exclusive jurisdiction clause and that the principle should be given a wide interpretation.

The Hong Kong High Court has given a rare order for modifications to a scheme of arrangement after it had been implemented incorrectly by the scheme administrators. Drawing on instances in which the English courts have sanctioned modifications after approval by scheme creditors, the court held that the same principles apply here.

The Hong Kong court has granted an order forcing an uncooperative former director of a Hong Kong listed company to ratify the appointment of a Hong Kong liquidator as the sole director of the companies' four BVI subsidiaries. The court rejected the idea that the liquidators should be made to apply for fresh winding up orders in the BVI and stressed that courts should be ready to offer each other mutual assistance.

Three recent Hong Kong first instance court decisions have left undecided the question of whether a winding-up petition will trump an agreement to arbitrate when it comes to a winding-up and particularly in the context of cross-claims. A Court of Final Appeal decision this spring had seemed to provide pointers that the parties' agreement would be upheld but the issue – particularly when it comes to unmeritorious and late arbitration applications – is dividing the courts.

In the case of Re Guangdong Overseas Construction Corporation [2023] HKCFI 1340, the Honourable Madam Justice Linda Chan recognized and provided assistance to a mainland China appointed administrator over a mainland China company in liquidation despite the administrator's application being outside the scope of the insolvency cooperation mechanism between Hong Kong and mainland China courts. The Hong Kong court affirmed that its jurisdiction to recognize and assist office-holders appointed by a court of another jurisdiction derives from common law.

A Hong Kong court has reminded debtors of the need to present a credible and realistic restructuring proposal when facing creditors threatening winding up actions. In Re Jiayuan International Group Limited (佳源國際控股有限公司) [2023] HKCFI 1254, the Honourable Madam Justice Linda Chan warned that it is not enough for a debtor company to merely point to commercial discussions with some of the creditors when seeking an adjournment.

The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (CFA) has confirmed a Court of Appeal finding that the court should respect the effect of an exclusive jurisdiction clause in bankruptcy proceedings, just as it does in ordinary civil actions.