Research on the Liability of Unexpired Equity Transfer under the New Company Law

新《公司法》第88条第1款首次明确未届期股权转让后的归责规则，规定出资义务由受让人承担，在受让人未出资的情况下由转让人负担补充责任。司法实践中，新规则虽统一责任主体，但仍存在争议：一是补充责任的理论基础尚不充分，未区分债务形成时间与股权转让时间，只考虑客观层面未充分考虑合理性和价值评价；二是对恶意转让股权行为的规制逻辑错位，未明确责任顺位；三是未规定补充责任的诉讼时效，可能导致转让人终身担责。此外，出资加速到期后股权转让的责任归属也需进一步明晰。本文建议构建“四个区分”责任体系(债务时间、加速到期、恶意转让、恶意串通)，并引入诉讼时效限制，以平衡债权人保护与股东权益，促进股权流转与市场活力。Article 88, Paragraph 1 of the new Company Law first clarifies the rules for attributing liability after the transfer of unexpired equity, stipulating that the obligation for capital contributions shall be borne by the transferee, while the transferor shall assume supplementary liability if the transferee fails to contribute capital. In judicial practice, although the new rules unify the subject of liability, there are still controversies: firstly, the theoretical basis for supplementary liability is not sufficient; it does not distinguish between the time of debt formation and the time of equity transfer, only considering the objective level without adequately addressing reasonableness and value assessment; secondly, the regulatory logic concerning malicious equity transfers is misaligned, and the order of liability is not clarified; thirdly, there are no provisions for the statute of limitations on supplementary liability, which could result in lifelong liability for the transferor. Furthermore, the attribution of liability for equity transfer after the accelerated capital contribution deadline also needs to be clarified. This paper suggests constructing a liability system of “four distinctions” (debt time, accelerated maturity, malicious transfer, and malicious collusion) and introducing a statute of limitations to balance creditor protection and shareholder rights, thus promoting the circulation of equity and market vitality.