Author: Fu Yifu (Suning Institute of Finance, Consumer Finance Research Center Assistant Director, Senior Research Fellow), from the title figure: Vision China
Recently, Jia Yueting, who has not appeared for a long time, returned to the public.
According to the news reports, Jia Yueting has submitted relevant documents to the US court to take the initiative to apply for personal bankruptcy and reorganization; he will transfer all the assets to the creditors through the creditor trust, which is controlled and managed by the creditor committee and trust trustees. . Subsequently, the news that Jia Yueting and his wife Gan Wei applied for divorce suffocated the appetite of the people who eat melon.
Nothing is unique. Not long ago, the first personal debt concentration cleanup case with the personal bankruptcy function and equivalent procedures in China was just completed: Zhejiang Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court claimed in the notice that the debtor Cai Mou had no liquidity, 2.14 million yuan. The debt will only be paid off at a rate of 1.5% in one lump sum within a period of 18 months.
When the news came out, public opinion was stunned, and people generally interpreted it as an ice-breaking move officially implemented in China’s personal bankruptcy system. However, many people have expressed their doubts: such a high debt, it is only necessary to repay the amount of money that is not enough. Is it that the remaining money can be used? Under the protection of personal bankruptcy, will the spring of the “Lai Lai” come here?
And these are the questions that this article wants to try to answer.
1
Before analysis, proper “science” is always necessary.
Generally speaking, individual bankruptcy means that when the natural person who is the debtor cannot pay off its debts due, the court declares that it is bankrupt according to law, and liquidates and distributes its assets or makes debt adjustments, exempting its debts. And the legal norms that determine the rights and obligations of the parties in the process of bankruptcy.
From a procedural point of view, the personal bankruptcy system mainly includes liquidation and reorganization. Among them, liquidation is applicable to consumer debtors with small debts, no property or no income to pay off past debts, and all debts are settled with existing assets. To separate the newly acquired property from the previous debt after the end of bankruptcy; as for the reorganization, it applies to debtors with a relatively stable and continuous source of income, who have the ability toInward repayment of a certain proportion of debt, corresponding to the debtor can obtain more loose restrictions than liquidation, can retain housing or other real estate or other rights.
It is worth noting that an important mechanism in the personal bankruptcy system is excess debt relief, also known as bankruptcy exemption, that is, after the end of the bankruptcy proceedings, the honest debtor who meets the statutory exemption conditions is not Debts that can be settled in accordance with the bankruptcy proceedings can be exempted from liability for continued liquidation within the statutory scope.
The purpose is that when a good and honest business operator is in bankruptcy, he can repay part of the debt under the supervision and determination of the court, and at the same time remove the remaining part, so that the debtor can still have a chance to rejuvenate after bankruptcy. And create more wealth for society and individuals by participating in social activities.
This seemingly “kind” system is a luxury in the distant past.
In the long history of history, the legal consequences of almost all debts and debts are extremely heavy. For example, in the Roman Republic more than 2,000 years ago, if a person owes a debt, he must not only bear the disgraceful “anonymity”, but also be punished, or even be executed, in the ancient “Twelve Copper.” It is recorded in the Table Law. Although subsequent legal provisions completely abolished the debtor’s execution or sale as a slave, the practice of debt imprisonment and depreciation of the debtor’s personality continued. In the British law of the 17th century, it was also stipulated that one of the debtor’s ears could be cut off to show disciplinary action. As for the debtor’s imprisonment or humiliation, it is even more commonplace.
However, in modern society, with the continuous development and progress of the economy and society, the legislators and people from all over the world have gradually changed their understanding and attitude toward the debt-debt relationship; correspondingly, it is the legislation of the modern bankruptcy law. The purpose is to change from “the creditor center” to “the balance of interests of creditors and debtors” and begin to take into account the overall welfare of the whole society. Under such an evolutionary trend, the personal bankruptcy system and the remaining debt exemption mechanisms have matured and are widely accepted and adopted by more and more countries and regions.
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Looking at the world, the personal bankruptcy system has become an extremely important part of the modern bankruptcy law. However, in China, the development process of this system is quite slow.
The reason is that for a long time, because most of the rulers of China have adopted the policy of strengthening agriculture and restraining business, the commodity economy has not been able to grow rapidly and rapidly, which limits the recognition of the debt relationship between the ancients and the economic debt. Know and understand. For those private debts