The Shanghai Financial Court has handed over its 5-year transcript, accepted 41000 cases, and the total interest rate of the target exceeds 1.1 trillion yuan | loan | total target
0.7% and 25%, which are a set of figures in the work report on the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the Shanghai Financial Court released this morning.
The former refers to the proportion of initial enforcement cases accepted by Shanghai Financial Court among all courts in the city since its establishment, while the latter refers to the proportion of the amount of application for enforcement in all courts in the city. The difference of over 30 times reflects the characteristics of Shanghai Financial Court's acceptance of cases - high case value, high attention, and high difficulty in trial.
As the first specialized financial court in the country, in the past five years, the Shanghai Financial Court has focused on its financial trial function and played a demonstrative and leading role, striving to make the judiciary an important institutional support behind the construction of the Shanghai International Financial Center, without any precedent to follow or mature experience to learn from.
Fair trial of foreign-related cases and optimization of business environment
"The judgment of the Shanghai Court is the first time such a judgment has been made in Chinese Mainland, which may become a precedent for protecting relevant investors." On November 3, 2020, Bloomberg News reported a case heard by the Shanghai Financial Court, giving such an evaluation.
This is the first case in which a mainland court has ruled to recognize and enforce the offshore bond maintenance agreement. When the Shanghai Financial Court tried a financial dispute between a domestic company and an overseas affiliated company, it ruled to recognize the judgment made by the Hong Kong court based on the "maintenance agreement" signed by both parties. Bloomberg and other international media believe in their reports that the case will effectively enhance the credibility of Chinese companies issuing bonds overseas and strengthen judicial protection for the development of the real economy.
In the past five years, there have been many pioneering cases like this in the Shanghai Financial Court. According to data, from its establishment on August 20, 2018 to August 19, 2023, the Shanghai Financial Court has concluded a total of 379 foreign-related and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan related cases. This includes the first case of equity transfer dispute involving foreigners holding shares of a listed company under the name of a foreigner, the determination of breach of contract events and liability in crude oil swap transactions that should be subject to international conventions, and the establishment of review standards for parties applying for property preservation in mainland courts in Hong Kong arbitration proceedings.
Whether Shanghai aims to become an international financial center and whether financial justice can meet expectations has always been a concern for multinational corporations and foreign investors. The fair judgment of each case reflects the favorable business environment in Shanghai and provides investors with peace of mind. As Professor Huang Hui from the Law School of the Chinese University of Hong Kong said in his evaluation of the "Weihao Agreement" case, "The judgment in this case fully demonstrates the professionalism and pioneering spirit of the Shanghai Financial Court. It has made a reasonable judgment on the eligibility of the litigation subject, the finality of the judgment, and the determination of the public interest involved in the Weihao Agreement, which has an important normative and guiding role."
Using Judicial Adjudication to Promote the Construction of Financial System
In March 2021, the People's Bank of China issued a notice requiring all loan products to clearly indicate the annualized interest rate of the loan. The introduction of this regulatory rule incorporates the judgment rules established by the Shanghai Financial Court in a case.
This is the first case in the country where a loan institution should clearly disclose the actual interest rate based on the Civil Code. The two appellants borrowed 6 million yuan from Zhongyuan Trust, with an agreed average annual interest rate of 11.88%. However, after early repayment, the two appellants found that the actual interest rate reached 20.94%, much higher than the contract agreement, so they filed a lawsuit in court. After losing the first instance, the Shanghai Financial Court revised its judgment in the second instance that the lending institution had an obligation to clearly disclose the actual interest rate in the loan contract. The portion of interest collected by the lending institution that exceeded the contracted interest rate due to the failure to disclose the actual interest rate should be refunded.
After 5 years of establishment, the Shanghai Financial Court has accepted a total of 41077 financial cases, concluded 39594 cases, and the total amount of the subject matter exceeded 1.1 trillion yuan. The court uses judicial rulings to promote institutional construction, delineate legal boundaries for financial transactions, and stabilize the expectations of domestic and foreign financial market entities regarding transaction rules and judgment results by adjudicating typical cases with rule significance.
On this basis, in July 2022, the Shanghai Financial Court further issued the "Regulations on the Financial Market Case Testing Mechanism". This mechanism is clear. When financial institutions, trading counterparties, and other entities are preparing or conducting financial business, if they encounter typical factual and legal issues that are cutting-edge, urgently need legal clarification, and have a significant impact on the financial market, they can apply to the Shanghai Financial Court for case testing. The court provides clear rules and guidance for the financial market through simulated trials. In the eyes of industry insiders, this is another important measure for Shanghai to learn from foreign judicial experience, prevent and resolve financial risks, and promote the construction of an international financial center.
Soon, the Interbank Market Clearing House Co., Ltd., Bank of Communications Co., Ltd., Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co., Ltd., Industrial Bank Co., Ltd., and French Industrial Bank Co., Ltd. jointly applied to launch the first test case, with the aim of verifying the legality of the clearing house's central counterparty clearing business default disposal rules and the rationality of disposal behavior. In February of this year, the Shanghai Financial Court publicly announced the judicial opinion on the test case, clarifying the legal application principles for disputes related to financial market infrastructure, and making a determination on the relevant dispute focus.
Innovative mechanisms to protect small and medium-sized investors
After being punished by the China Securities Regulatory Commission for false statements, Founder Technology Group Co., Ltd. was sued by shareholders for compensation of approximately 169 million yuan. This is the first national demonstration judgment on securities disputes heard by the Shanghai Financial Court. The court selected four investors with strong representativeness in factual disputes and legal application from nearly a thousand plaintiffs as the demonstration judgments for trial.
In the end, the Shanghai Financial Court ruled that all four individuals could receive corresponding compensation. After the demonstration judgment takes effect, its recognized common facts and legal application standards have an expanding effect on parallel cases. Other series of cases filed by shareholders against Fangzheng Technology can be quickly resolved by referring to this judgment.
In addition to financial institutions, there are also a large number of small and medium-sized investors in the financial market. The establishment of the demonstration judgment system not only saves judicial resources but also effectively protects the legitimate rights and interests of shareholders.
In the past five years, the Shanghai Financial Court has pioneered more than 30 specialized financial trial and enforcement mechanisms nationwide, including the first implementation of the principle of priority for civil compensation liability, the first demonstration case of securities group disputes, and the first ordinary representative litigation case of securities disputes. Many of these mechanisms are aimed at better protecting the interests of small and medium-sized investors.
For example, the Shanghai Financial Court has pioneered a new mechanism for judicial assistance in bulk stocks, which, with the assistance of the stock exchange, forcibly converts bulk stocks to a price discovery mechanism that conforms to the laws of securities assets, fully realizing the maximization of disposal value, efficiency, and convenience. It has also been awarded the Shanghai Financial Innovation Award. The pioneering new mechanism for batch real estate judicial disposal has formed a new model of batch real estate judicial auction with "batch entrustment, spin off bidding, and high price optimization". More than 400 parking spaces in a residential community in Shanghai have been centrally disposed of in batches, resolving the execution difficulties of homeowners who cannot afford to buy and courts who cannot sell them.