????最近有幾家中國(guó)公司申請(qǐng)?jiān)诿绹?guó)首發(fā)上市。其中，500彩票網(wǎng)（500.com）是一家體育彩票網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司。58同城（58.com）是一家分類信息網(wǎng)站，或者說(shuō)中國(guó)版的Craigslist。久邦數(shù)碼（Sungy Mobile ）是一家手機(jī)網(wǎng)站，主要制作手機(jī)游戲。去哪兒（Qunar Cayman Islands）是一家旅游服務(wù)網(wǎng)站，類似于Kayak。

????這些公司的審計(jì)機(jī)構(gòu)是：

????500彩票網(wǎng) 安永

????58同城 普華永道

????久邦數(shù)碼 畢馬威

????去哪兒 安永

????德勤（Deloitte）沒(méi)有從中獲得任何業(yè)務(wù)。不過(guò)，按客戶數(shù)量計(jì)算，此前德勤的市場(chǎng)份額最大。一些私募人士告訴我，他們一直在避開(kāi)德勤，因?yàn)樗麄儞?dān)心后者在美國(guó)證監(jiān)會(huì)（SEC）那里惹上的麻煩會(huì)妨礙這些公司及時(shí)上市。四大會(huì)計(jì)師事務(wù)所和SEC的問(wèn)題包含了大量的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)因素。其中三家事務(wù)所已經(jīng)表示，如果SEC對(duì)它們的中國(guó)業(yè)務(wù)采取行動(dòng)，它們將無(wú)法提交財(cái)務(wù)報(bào)告，還有可能被注銷資格。我很高興地看到，在久邦數(shù)碼的審計(jì)報(bào)告上簽字的是畢馬威的中國(guó)大陸成員公司，打破了以前此類報(bào)告由畢馬威香港成員公司簽字的慣例。實(shí)際審計(jì)工作由該大陸成員公司完成，它就需要在報(bào)告上簽字。

????這幾家公司都采用可變利益實(shí)體（VIE）結(jié)構(gòu)。自從今年上演了和信超媒體案和龔如心案后，我就一直在分析相關(guān)文件，目的是了解采用VIE結(jié)構(gòu)以及信息披露方面的情況（特別提醒：我還沒(méi)有提到過(guò)這些案例）。過(guò)幾天我將以此為題專門寫一篇博文。

????本文的焦點(diǎn)是募集資金用途。這幾家公司都有很大的資金缺口，鑒于它們都是初創(chuàng)型公司，這一點(diǎn)并不讓人意外。其中三家仍在虧損。它們?cè)谔峤坏奈募斜硎荆琁PO所得資金不可能進(jìn)入VIE。雖然這些公司可以把募集資金轉(zhuǎn)移或轉(zhuǎn)借給它們的外商獨(dú)資公司（WFOE），但WFOE不能向中國(guó)公司轉(zhuǎn)移資金，也不可以向后者提供貸款。同時(shí)，也不允許WFOE將這些轉(zhuǎn)移或轉(zhuǎn)借的資金用于委托貸款。委托貸款是指由一家中國(guó)的銀行在貸款人和借款人之間充當(dāng)中介，它已經(jīng)成為中國(guó)公司規(guī)避發(fā)行商業(yè)票據(jù)禁令的捷徑。WFOE不能把已經(jīng)兌換成人民幣的資金用于委托貸款，所以無(wú)法通過(guò)這種方式將首發(fā)募集資金借給VIE。

????當(dāng)然，這是一個(gè)巨大的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)因素。如果不能用IPO所得資金來(lái)彌補(bǔ)VIE的虧損，這些公司怎么生存下去呢？看樣子，去哪兒公司的VIE沒(méi)有出現(xiàn)重大虧損（它的的虧損似乎來(lái)自WFOE）；500彩票網(wǎng)處于盈利狀態(tài)；久邦數(shù)碼和58同城提交的文件則沒(méi)有說(shuō)明它們打算怎樣將人民幣資金轉(zhuǎn)移到VIE中以彌補(bǔ)經(jīng)營(yíng)虧損。

????此外，這些公司都沒(méi)有說(shuō)明它們將如何用募集資金來(lái)填補(bǔ)VIE的前期虧損。去哪兒的投資方是百度公司（Baidu）。另外三家公司在起步階段都得到了大量海外私募資金。這些私募資金是怎么進(jìn)入VIE的呢？它們買了這些公司的開(kāi)曼群島（Cayman Islands）母公司的優(yōu)先股。這樣就有可能讓這些資金通過(guò)轉(zhuǎn)移或轉(zhuǎn)借進(jìn)入WFOE并兌換成人民幣。但WFOE不能向VIE貸款，也不能向VIE轉(zhuǎn)移資金，那么這些資金是怎么進(jìn)入VIE的呢？顯然是通過(guò)借貸，原因是每家公司的VIE都有一筆應(yīng)付貸款，貸款人是一家已經(jīng)在整合中消失的關(guān)聯(lián)公司。這樣的貸款怎么會(huì)合法呢？如果不合法，為什么這些公司沒(méi)有在文件中做出說(shuō)明呢？

????我能想到很多辦法把人民幣資金轉(zhuǎn)移到VIE，但沒(méi)有一種途徑是合法的。當(dāng)然，打算在美國(guó)上市的公司并沒(méi)有參與洗錢。我希望SEC的調(diào)查足夠深入，能把事情徹底搞清楚。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：Charlie????

????We have had several Chinese companies file for IPOs in the US recently.500.com is an online sports lottery company.58.com is China’s copy of Craigslist. Sungy Mobile is mobile internet, mostly games. Qunar Cayman Islands is similar to Kayak.

????Auditors of these companies are:

????500.com EY

????58.com PwC

????Sungy Mobile KPMG

????Qunar EY

????Deloitte won none of these engagements although it previously had the largest market share by number of companies. Some private equity people have told me that they have been avoiding Deloitte for fear that their SEC problems might get in the way of a timely offering. The problems that the Big Four are having with the SEC get extensive coverage in the risk factors, with three of them saying that if the SEC acts against the China Big Four, they will not be able to file financial statements and may be delisted. I was pleased to see that KPMG signed Sungy’s report using its mainland affiliate, breaking from its former practice of signing these reports in Hong Kong. The mainland affiliate does the audits; it needs to sign the reports.

????All of these companies use the VIE structure, and I have been analyzing the filings to see what is happening in VIE structuring and disclosures since thefireworks this year in the Gigamedia and Nina Wang cases (spoiler alert: they are not mentioned). I will be putting up a post on this in the next few days.

????This post focuses on the use of proceeds. All of these companies have large deficits, which is not surprising since they are startups. Three are still losing money. The filings explain that it is impossible to get the IPO proceeds into the VIE. While the company can contribute or loan the funds to its WFOE, the WFOE cannot contribute to the capital of a Chinese company and it is not permitted to loan funds to a Chinese company. The WFOE is also not permitted to use capital contributions or loans to make an entrust loan. Entrust loans involve a Chinese bank serving as an intermediary between a lender and borrower and have developed as a way for Chinese companies to get around the rule that forbids them from issuing commercial paper. WFOEs cannot make entrust loans with funds that have been converted into RMB, so the WFOE cannot make a loan of IPO proceeds to the VIE in this way.

????This, of course, is a huge risk factor. If companies cannot use the IPO proceeds to fund losses in the VIE, how is the business going to survive? Qunar does not appear to have big losses in the VIE (apparently its losses are in its WFOE), and 500.com is profitable, but there is no explanation in the filings on how Sungy Mobile and 58.com expect to get RMB into their VIEs to fund operating losses.

????Furthermore, none of the companies explain how they got funds into the VIEs to fund the prior losses. Qunar has investment from Baidu. The others all got big investments from foreign private equity to fund their startup. How did these private equity funds get to the VIE? The private equity fund buys preferred stock in the Cayman Islands parent company. It is possible to then transfer those funds to the WFOE through capital contributions and loans and to convert them into RMB. But the WFOE cannot make a loan to the VIE, and it cannot make a capital contribution to the VIE, so how did the funds get into the VIE? It is quite clear that they were loaned to the VIE, since each of these companies show a loan payable by the VIE to a related company that is eliminated in consolidation. How was this loan legal? And if it is not legal, why isn’t it explained in the document?

????I can think of a number of ways to get RMB into a VIE, although none of them are legal. Certainly companies planning to list in the U.S. have not been involved in money laundering. I hope the SEC asks enough questions to get to the bottom of this.