东盟律师说 | RCEP缔约方国内法的国籍限定性规定评述（文莱篇）
在《区域全面经济伙伴关系协定》（“RCEP”）第十章投资章节中，新增了对于高级管理人员和董事会的规定。其中，RCEP不允许缔约方对自然人担任高级管理职务施加特定国籍限制。但RCEP原则上不禁止对董事会和委员会成员施加一定程度的国籍限定，前提是不得实质性损害投资者控制其投资的能力。
第三期我们邀请到文莱石律师事务所(Cheok Advocates & Solicitors)的主任石盘其律师(Robin Cheok Van Kee)就文莱国内法的上述问题展开评述。
石律师您好，很荣幸能邀请您就文莱国内法是否存在国籍限定问题进行评论。我们了解到注册成立一家文莱公司至少需要一名身份为“文莱普通居民”的董事，可否理解此条规定是RCEP所提及的对于董事会国籍限定的规定？
“In Brunei, Section 138 of the Companies Act (Cap 39) does stipulate the requirement of having at least 2 directors for the formation of a company in which one of the two directors shall be ordinarily resident in Brunei and in the event that there are more than two directors, then at least two of them shall be ordinarily resident in Brunei. The Registrar of Companies provides that to qualify as “ordinarily resident” you must submit an application to the Ministry of Finance using the Application for 'ordinarily resident’ status for purposes of Section 138(2) of the Companies Act (Cap 39) form attaching the required documents. Successful applications will be granted an Ordinarily Resident Certificate which then can be uploaded as a supporting document when incorporating a company.
Given that there is no legal definition of “ordinarily resident” in the Companies Act (Cap 39), the Registrar of Companies will take into account the following factors:
1. Resident meaning as in section 2 of the Income Tax Act (Chapter 35).
Resident is defined “in relation to an individual, means a person who, in the year
preceding the year of assessment, resides in Brunei Darussalam except for such
temporary absences therefrom as to the Collector may consider reasonable and not
inconsistent with a claim by such person to be resident in Brunei Darussalam, and
includes a person who is physically present or who exercises an employment (other
than as a director of a company) in Brunei Darussalam for 183 days or more during
the year preceding the year of assessment”.
2. Prospective Company’s Business Plan.
A comprehensive business plan with details of your business idea, strategy,
products/services, market analysis, marketing plan, operation plan, financial projections, management team and plan to employ locals.
3. Prospective Company’s Bank Book or Letter of Guarantee confirming adequate investment.
4. Educational qualification or relevant experience in building a business.
5. Family already living in Brunei Darussalam.”
（中文翻译为编者附）
在文莱，《公司法》第39章第138条确实规定了至少需要2名董事来组建公司，其中两名董事之一应为文莱普通居民，并且如果有两名以上董事，那么他们中至少有两名文莱普通居民。公司注册处规定要符合“普通居民”的资格，则必须向财政部提出“普通居民”身份申请，以符合公司法第39章第138条第2项所要求的附件形式要求。符合要求的申请将被授予普通居民证书，证书可被上传用作注册公司时的证明文件之一。
鉴于《公司法》第39章没有“普通居民”的法律定义，公司注册处将考虑以下因素：
1.在《所得税法》第35章第2节中居民的定义。居民被定义为“就自然人而言，指在评税年度之前的一年，一直居住在文莱的人，除非税收当局认为暂时离境情形合理，且不得与该自然人“作为文莱居民的声明”相冲突，还包括在课税年度的前一年在文莱居住或在文莱就业（不仅仅是作为公司董事的情形）超过183天或更久的情形。
2.拟成立公司的商业计划。全面的商业计划，其中包含商业构想、策略、产品/服务、市场分析、营销计划、运营计划、财务预测、管理团队以及雇用当地人的计划；
3.拟成立公司的银行存折或保函，确认拥有足够的投资资金；
4.文凭证书或开设企业的相关经验；
5.家庭成员已经居住在文莱。
如果要考虑以上因素，那么是否会实质性损害投资者对其投资的控制权？
“In practice, if the investor uses Brunei Nationals as the qualifying “ordinary residents” the above 1 to 5 requirements need not be met except for exceptional companies. So, since only up to 2 Bruneian directors from out of a potential 7 maximum number of directors for a Brunei incorporated company is required to be Bruneian in practice and if not, then as long as up to 2 of the investors’ 100% foreign directors spends at least 6 months in a year in Brunei, " the requirement does not materially impair the ability of the investor to exercise control over its investment.” Circumstances stipulated by law that may “ materially impair the ability of the investor to exercise control ” over the company are such as when the company can no longer be " an ongoing concern ” (an accounting jargon well understood by practitioners) or if the company is deemed Insolvent or defaults on their obligations in a debenture. In such circumstances, the company’s creditors may appoint " receivers and managers " to take over the control of the company.”
实践中，如果投资者使用文莱国民以符合“普通居民”的资格要求，则不需要满足以上1到5点的要求，特殊公司除外。也就是说，在文莱注册公司，在最多为的7名的董事中只需要至多2名文莱籍董事。如果不具备，那么只要投资者中至多2名纯粹的外国董事一年之中至少有6个月在文莱度过，那么以上5点要求就不会实质性损害投资者对其投资的控制权。
RCEP投资章所规定的可能“严重损害投资者对其投资公司的控制权”的情形是，例如公司不能再“持续经营”（一个会计从业人员深刻理解的会计术语）或公司被视为无力偿债或在偿债义务中大量违约。在这种情况下，公司的债权人可以任命“接管人和管理人”来接管公司。
根据石律师对《文莱公司法》相关法条的介绍，我们了解到文莱要求至少一名董事为当地普通居民，而对于高级管理人员并不存在相关规定。对于外籍人士，在满足了《所得税法》中关于普通居民定义的5个条件之一也会被认定为文莱普通居民。石律师所理解的RCEP投资章中规定的“严重损害投资者对其投资公司的控制权”的情形是可能会造成公司破产清算、债务危机、经营无法继续的情形，因此，文莱国内法并不存在因国籍限制规定而影响对于公司实质控制权的规定。
石盘其律师及石律师事务所简介
石盘其，文莱律师，拥有近20年的法律实务经验，在Legal 500最新出炉的2020年度亚太地区榜单中被评为推荐律师。主要业务领域为金融、知识产权、跨境投资等。石律师事务所是一家主要服务于东南亚、中国的综合性文莱律师事务所，具有良好的社会声誉。