谜语变奏曲：阿里巴巴调整有争议的法律架构 [英国媒体]

Enigma variations

谜语变奏曲

Alibaba tweaks a controversial legalstructure

阿里巴巴调整有争议的法律架构

Jack Ma’s role in the firm’s “variableinterest entities” will be reduced

马云在阿里巴巴“可变利益实体”中的地位将下降



IF YOU want to study how the legal title toassets worth many billions of dollars changes hands in China, then peercarefully at page 116 of Alibaba’s new annual report. The text is dense and youmay have to put a cold towel on your head and read it several times. The gistis that the Chinese internet giant is reforming its legal structure, which usesa fragile and ingenious device known as a variable interest entity (VIE).Alibaba’s attempt to make its VIEs safer is to be welcomed and will be watchedclosely by China’s richest entrepreneurs, many of whom use them, too.

如果你想研究价值数十亿美元的资产合法所有权在中国是如何转让的，那就仔细阅读阿里巴巴公司最新发布的年度报告第116页内容。由于信息量大，你可能需要在脑门放一条冷毛巾，反复阅读才行。主要内容是这家中国互联网巨头正在改革法律架构，该架构使用“可变利益实体”（VIE）这种脆弱而巧妙的手段。阿里巴巴试图让“可变利益实体”变得更加安全的做法受到欢迎，受到中国最富有的企业家们的密切关注，他们中有许多也在使用“可变利益实体”。



These holding companies will ultimately benominally owned by a broader group of Alibaba’s senior Chinese staff. The ideais that if anyone gets run over by a bus, then the scheme will not bedisrupted, because nominal control is spread among a wider group of people. Thenew approach is far from perfect but it is an improvement. If all goes to planit will be completed by 2019. Other tech firms may feel pressure to follow.

这些控股公司的名义所有权将最终归于更广泛的阿里巴巴中国资深员工所有，想法是公司结构不会因某个人出车祸而发生混乱，因为名义所有权被分散给更多的人。新方法远非完美，但算是一种进步。如果一切进展顺利，预计2019年将完成调整，其他科技公司可能感受到压力而纷纷效仿。

The other two problems with VIEs remain,however. All firms still carry warnings in their annual reports that thelegality of VIEs is uncertain. And mainlanders cannot own shares easily. WhenXiaomi floated in Hong Kong in June its plan was that they could buy stock intwo ways. They could purchase depositary receipts (which give the rights to theunderlying share) that would be listed in Shanghai, or they could buy shares inHong Kong through “stock connect”, a programme allowing a limited volume oftrading between the mainland and Hong Kong.

然而，可变利益实体的另外两个问题仍然存在。所有的公司在年度报告中仍发出警告：可变利益实体的合法性存在不确定性，大陆居民无法轻易买到它们的股票。6月份，小米在香港上市时，计划为大陆居民提供两种买股票方式。他们可以购买将在上海上市的存托凭证（使他们有权购买期权基础股份），还可以通过“互联互通”机制购买香港股票，该机制允许大陆与香港之间进行限量交易。

Unfortunately the listing of depositaryreceipts fell through, for reasons that remain unclear. Then mainlandregulators decided that firms with dual share classes, including Xiaomi, wouldnot be eligible for stock connect (the Chinese authorities and Hong Kong’sexchange are holding negotiations to try to resolve this). China talks a goodgame about financial reform but its fiddly rules and opaque decision-making area source of risk and ambiguity—even for its most successful companies.

不幸的是，存托凭证的上市计划失败，原因尚不清楚。中国大陆监管机构决议，像小米这种有双重股权结构的公司没有资格进行股票互联互通交易（中国政府正在与香港交易所谈判来解决这一问题）。中国的金融改革说的好听，但刁钻的规则和不透明的决策带来风险和不确定性，即便最成功的的公司也不例外。