财务顾问服务是投融资领域最常见的高频经济活动之一。因财务顾问服务合同兼具居间合同和服务合同双重属性，且两种属性分别对应不同的顾问内容和不同的收费依据。人民法院审判财务顾问合同纠纷时，基于涉案合同的双重属性，审查合同内容及交易成果，判断付款条件成就与否。这是当前财务顾问费纠纷的主流趋势。

截止2019年8月1日，通过关键词“财务顾问费”可公开查询到裁判文书1801份，其中：民事判决书1619份，刑事判决书115份，执行裁定书91份，行政判决书1份，其他类型文书1份。这个查询结果表明，投融资领域目标公司拖欠财务顾问服务费的情形并不少见，极少数纠纷进行到了执行阶段；尤其需要重点关注的是，财务顾问费纠纷中出现了115个刑事文书，意味着，已经出现因财务顾问费问题引发刑事案件的情形了。

基于对生效裁判的深入研究，同时关注财务顾问公司的核心利益，我们针对如下18个问题的裁判思路和裁判趋势进行分析。

1、财务顾问合同系居间合同还是服务合同？还是兼具居间与服务性质？2009年中华人民共和国最高人民法院作出（2009）民二终字第16号判决书，确认财务顾问合同性质“二分法”：财务顾问合同中约定财务顾问推荐（或提供）投资方并促成投资交易的内容，系居间合同性质；财务顾问合同中约定推荐或提供投资方之外针对目标公司内部治理提供服务的内容，系服务合同性质。如财务顾问合同中既约定推荐投资方又约定提供公司治理服务，则兼具居间与服务性质。不同的约定分别对应不同合同义务，且据以计算价款的基础及金额不同。

2、财务顾问的工作内容应包括那些？主要权利义务是什么？人民法院判定财务顾问费付款条件的标准是什么？成功推荐投资者但未提供公司治理服务如何收费？推荐投资方但未成功如何收费？推荐但未成功，然而提供了公司治理服务，如何收费？财务顾问的工作内容应由财务顾问合同明确约定，常见内容分为两类：一类是为目标公司推荐投资者并促成投资交易，这也是财务顾问最主要最常见的工作内容；另一类是帮助目标公司优化公司治理（资本、市场、行业定位、战略规划、风险分析等），使其更受资本青睐。如果财务顾问合同约定了上述工作内容，则构成财务顾问的主要义务；与之相对，财务顾问的主要权利就是收取顾问费。财务顾问费引发纠纷后，人民法院首先查看财务顾问合同所约定的工作内容及对应的收费条款：财务顾问合同仅约定推荐投资方并促成投资交易时，则约定的投资完成，系财务顾问收取顾问费的要件；财务顾问合同仅约定提供公司治理服务内容，则不以获得融资为付款要件；当财务顾问合同既约定推荐投资方又约定公司治理服务时，要区分两类工作内容分别对应的价款，如无区别性约定，人民法院根据实际工作内容和价值酌定两类工作分别对应的价款并据以裁判。

3、财务顾问的举证责任有哪些？因财务顾问合同约定的工作内容不同，在纠纷中财务顾问所承担的举证责任不同：财务顾问合同仅约定推荐投资者并促成交易时，财务顾问应向人民法院或仲裁机构提交财务顾问合同、投资方的基本信息、与投资方沟通的记录、财务顾问向目标公司推荐的信函或其他记录、财务顾问与目标公司的沟通记录、投资方与目标公司签署的交易文件、投资方与目标公司的沟通记录、投资款入账记录等；财务顾问合同仅约定提供公司治理服务时，财务顾问应向人民法院或仲裁机构提供财务顾问合同、提供公司治理服务的工作过程记录及工作成果、沟通记录、治理前后对比情况、社会评价显著提高的报道或行业评价（如有）；当财务顾问合同同时约定上述两类工作内容时，财务顾问除提交上述全部证据材料外，还应重点举证说明两类工作分别对应的合同价款或确定方式。

4、人民法院或仲裁机构是否有权酌定财务顾问服务费？根据上海市高级人民法院2019年作出的（2018）沪民申1198号民事裁定书，当财务顾问合同对顾问费进行了明确约定，且财务顾问已经如约完成义务后，人民法院或仲裁机构不得通过酌定方式调整财务顾问费金额。当财务顾问完成部分工作内容且无法根据财务顾问合同确定应付对价时，人民法院或仲裁机构应基于合同约定并结合已完成工作的价值酌定应付顾问费。

5、财务顾问合同本身存在专业性漏洞时，财务顾问应承担何种后果？前述最高人民法院（2009）民二终字第16号判决书中明确：财务顾问本身的专业性要求其签约时应当对顾问工作可能超过合同期限、超越合同内容等问题做出预见且进行专门约定，否则，应承担不利后果，其中包括败诉风险。

6、财务顾问合同中分项约定基础费、工作费、成功费时，人民法院或仲裁机构如何裁判？财务顾问合同中将顾问费分项约定的情况比较常见，“基础费”一般在签订合同时支付；“工作费”一般在完成特定工作量时支付；“成功费”一般专指融资成功完成后应支付的财务顾问费部分。从目前的审判实践来看，无论是约定推荐投资人促成交易的合同还是约定提供公司治理服务的合同，抑或同时约定二者的财务顾问合同，对于“基础费”和“工作费”两部分内容，人民法院和仲裁机关通常予以支持。至于“成功费”部分，关键要素依然是投资交易是否成功完成，有几种特殊情况需要注意：（1）虽然所推荐的投资者未完成投资，但其他投资者对目标公司进行了投资，此时，人民法院或仲裁机构应当考察财务顾问在投资交易中实际作用和价值来判断“成功费”；（2）推荐投资者完成交易前，目标公司主张解除财务顾问合同，后投资交易成功完成，人民法院或仲裁机构应当区分目标公司解约的目的和动机，如纯粹为了逃避财务顾问费义务，则应判令全额支付财务顾问费；若善意解约或财务顾问确存错误，则应酌定费用金额。

7、财务顾问人员是否必备金融专业资质？如不具备专业资质但完成了合同义务，如何收费？2019年深圳市罗湖区人民法院作出（2019）粤0303民初7193号民事判决书，认为从事财务顾问服务的人员应具备相应的金融专业资质，如果没有资质则不认定其完成了财务顾问合同义务。但是，不能仅仅因为没有金融资质就完全否定其对投资交易的促进作用，此类情况下，人民法院或仲裁机构应根据相关人员对投资交易作用的大小酌定支付费用。

8、在涉及证券销售领域的财务顾问服务合同中，如何区分代销协议和财务顾问协议？上海市第一中级人民法院2019年作出（2019）沪01民终92号民事判决书，明确了证券销售领域财务顾问合同与证券代销协议之间的区别：如财务顾问仅仅推荐交易对手而不直接订立证券交易，不干预交易，则应认定为财务顾问合同；如直接订立证券交易或代销证券，而不只是撮合交易，则财务顾问首先应取得代销资质，其合同性质为证券代销协议。

9、将财务顾问费用包含在融资协议或成本中如何处理？当财务顾问费用约定在融资协议或融资成本中时，当事人在融资纠纷中主张财务顾问费用的，因分属不同的法律关系，应当另案起诉。

10、没有顾问协议原件但有微信及邮件记录能否认定财务顾问合同成立？深圳市中级人民法院中院2018年作出的(2018)粤03民终20229号民事判决书确认，虽然原告无法提供财务顾问合同原件，但是，根据双方之间的微信记录、电子邮件以及投资交易实际情况，可以推定财务顾问合同成立。

11、金融借款领域财务顾问合同的性质及关联方借款对顾问费是否产生影响？2019年上海市高级人民法院作出（2018）沪民申1198号判决书，认为纯粹金融借款领域的财务顾问合同系居间合同而非服务合同，金融借款与投资存在本质区别，因出借人不像投资者对目标公司盈利能力和发展前景的考察那样关注公司治理问题，因此，财务顾问在借款领域最主要的功能不在于协助公司完成公司治理优化，而是推荐出借人并促成借款交易。投资方与顾问方的关联关系虽然在一定程度上减轻了财务顾问的工作难度，但是不能据此降低财务顾问费

12、如何判断顾问费是否畸高？其判断标准是什么？2019年上海市高级人民法院作出的（2018）沪民申1198号判决书认为，人民法院或仲裁机构不宜主动调整双方有明确约定的财务顾问费金额。在金融借款领域，可以将24%的利率上限作为财务顾问费总额的参考，但是，这并不具有强制力。

13、新三板及类似板块挂牌财务顾问类型中，目标公司以服务并无实质作用未实现资金募集为由抗辩，顾问费是否受影响？宜昌市中级人民法院2019年作出(2018)鄂05民终3165号民事判决书，认为财务顾问在新三板挂牌或类似交易中的作用并不以目标公司获得资金为完成顾问合同义务的判断依据，因此，即使挂牌后募资数量极小，目标公司依然应如约支付财务顾问费。

14、财务顾问协议期满后能否解除？江苏省宿迁市中级人民法院2019年作出(2018)苏13民终3938号民事判决书，认为财务顾问合同期满或投资交易完成后，目标公司提出解除合同的，人民法院不应支持。

15、拖欠财务顾问费违约金如何计算？一般来说，应当依据财务顾问合同关于违约金的约定计算，如没有约定，可以参照人民银行同期贷款利率计算。

16、已支付财务顾问费能否以不当得利要求返还？青海省高级人民法院2018年作出(2017)青民初42号判决书，认为除非有证据证明财务顾问合同本身存在效力问题，一般不得以不当得利请求返还已支付的财务顾问费。

17、财务顾问合同履行后，目标公司未获得融资或未达成其他目标，财务顾问是否完全不能主张费用？上海市第一中级人民法院2019年作出(2018)沪01民终9888号民事判决书，认为财务顾问合同包含居间内容，根据相关法律规定，居间未成功，居间人不能主张居间报酬（财务顾问的服务费），但是，可以向目标公司主张履行合同期间所支出的必要费用。

18、利用职权以财务顾问名义收取费用，如何定性？湖南省高级人民法院2006年作出（2006）湘高法刑二终字第84号判决书，贵州法院2018年作出(2018)黔0325刑初141号判决书，宜宾市中级人民法院2018年作出(2018)川15刑终238号判决书，均以受贿罪惩处了以财务顾问费为名收取费用的相关工作人员。

作者单位：北京秀中律师事务所|张志胜 潘枫 于天龙

（本报告系北京秀中律师事务所原创作品，如需用做商业用途，或就相关法律问题需要咨询，敬请联系：010-65252448、13911920598

或victor.zhang@xiuzhonglaw.com）

Business Law Review Series from VC Law firm

Survey of Recent Developments in Judgement for Disputes over Financial Adviser Contract in China

By Zhisheng(victor) Zhang[1]

In this essay，I address the issue that the Financial Adviser Contract(the “FA Contract”) has dual attributes including intermediate contract and service contract，the different attribute corresponds to different contractual rights and obligations in the FA Contract. The people’s court of the People’s Republic of China (the “people’s court of PRC”) examines the content of the FA Contract and the relative investment transaction results, and then estimates based on the dual attributes abovementioned whether the party who received financial adviser service should pay remuneration to the FA or not.

As of August 1, 2019, 1801 judgement documents can be publicly inquired through the keyword “financial consultancy remuneration” on line, including 1619 civil judgements, 115 criminal sentences, 91implementing orders, 1 administrative judgement and 1 document of other type. The result of this query shows that is not uncommon for target companies received FA service to default on financial advisory fees, even to the extent that very few disputes on FA contract resolved through enforcement. Particularly, 115 criminal sentence documents appeared in this query, which means some disputes relative to FA contract initiated criminal cases.

Based on the profound study of the come-into-force judgements abovementioned, and pay much attention to the core interests of financial advisory companies, I would point out the judicial thoughts and trends on these 18 issues following.

1. Is the FA Contract an intermediary contract or a service contract? Or does the FA Contract has dual attributes of intermediary and service? In 2009, Supreme People’s Court of the PRC entered judgement “（2009）民二终字第16号”, confirmed the nature of FA Contract as following: while the FA Contract stipulating only that the financial adviser recommends(or provides) the investor for the target company and facilitates the investment transaction is intermediary contract; while the FA Contract stipulating only that the financial adviser provides service for internal governance of target company except investor recommending is service contract; while the FA Contract stipulating investor recommending and internal-governance service is dual attributes contract. Different content corresponds to different contractual rights and obligations, the basis on which FA remuneration is calculated differs from each other.

2. What should be included in the work of a financial adviser? Which are the principal rights and obligations of the financial adviser? What are the criteria for the court of PRC to estimate the terms of payment for FA remuneration? The principal work content of the financial adviser should be clearly stipulated in the FA contract, including two categories: the core task of financial adviser is to recommend investors to target companies and facilitate investment transactions; and another work to do is to optimize corporate governance (capital, market, industry positioning, strategic planning, risk analysis, etc.) of target companies to make them more attractive to investors. The principal right of financial adviser is to collect FA remuneration. The people’s court of PRC would examine the principal obligation of FA Contract and corresponding remuneration clauses prior to make determination: when the principal obligation of financial adviser is to recommend investor, FA remuneration is charged on the basis of recommendation of investors and completion of investment; when the principal obligation of financial adviser is to provide internal corporate governance service, payment requirements of FA remuneration is irrelative to obtain financing; when the FA Contract stipulates both recommending investors and corporate governance service, it is necessary to distinguish the corresponding price clauses of two types of work, if there is no distinctive agreement, the people’s court of PRC would determine by his discretion the corresponding prices of the two types of work according to the actual content and value of the work.

3. Which evidence should the financial adviser present to the people’s court according to burden of proof in FA contract disputes? The burden of proof is different attribute to different work content stipulated in FA contract: when the FA contract stipulates financial adviser recommending investor and facilitating investment transaction only, the financial adviser should submit to the people’s court the FA contract, basic information of the investor, record of communication between investor and financial adviser, letter or equivalent documents in which the financial adviser recommended investor to the target company, communication record between target company and financial adviser, transaction documents signed between the investor and target company, investment accounting records of biding company, etc.; when the FA contract stipulates financial adviser providing internal governance service only, the financial adviser should submit to the people’s court the FA contract, records or equivalent documents of the working process and results of internal corporate governance services, communication records respectively, reports on pre- and post-governance comparisons, social reports or industry evaluations of significant improvements of the target company(if any). When the FA contract stipulates the two types of work, in addition to submitting all of the evidentiary materials abovementioned, the financial adviser should provide evidence focus on proving the corresponding price of the two types of work or the method to ascertain price of the two parts of work.

4. Does the judge of people’s court decide the FA remuneration by discretion? According to the order “（2018）沪民申1198号” of Shanghai Higher People’s Court, when the FA remuneration is clearly stipulated in the FA contract and the financial adviser has fulfilled his obligation as scheduled, the judge shall not adjust the amount of the FA remuneration by discretion without any justification. When the financial adviser finishes part of work and the consideration payable can not be determined according to price clause of the FA contract, the judge would use his discretion to determine amount of the FA remuneration based on the value of the completed work and the whole content of the FA contract.

5. When there are professional loopholes in the FA contract, what consequences should the financial adviser bear? The Supreme Court of PRC entered into “（2009）民二终字第16号” judgement and affirm that the financial adviser should make predictions and corresponding special arrangements on professional issues prior to sign the FA contract according to the professionalism of the financial adviser itself, such as the financial adviser’s work might exceed contract duration or serve beyond contract content. If financial adviser fails to perform such prudent duty while signing the FA contract, the judge would decide that the financial adviser afford adverse consequences or even lose the lawsuit.

6. When the basic fees, progress payments and commissions are stipulated in the FA contract, the judge would examine respective payment terms of such fees separately. “Basic fees” are paid at the time of signing the FA contract or few days later; “progress payments” are paid at the time of completing a specific workload; “commissions” refer specifically to the part of fees payable depending on the successful completion of financing. In the current trail practice, the people’s court and arbitration organs commonly confirm the “basic fees” and “progress payments”, whether it is a contract to recommend investors to facilitate transaction, a contract to provide corporate governance services, or a contract to provide both recommending and governance service. As for “commission”, the key factor of payment terms depends on whether the investment transaction is completed successfully. There are several special situations to be noted:(1) although the recommended investor has not invested in the target company, and other investor that is not recommended according to the FA contract has invested in the target company, the judge should determine the amount of “commission” based on examining the actual role and value of the financial adviser in investment transaction;(2) before recommended investor closing the investment transaction, if the target company or other party of the FA contract advocates the termination of the FA contract, and then the investment transaction is completed successfully, the judge would distinguish the purpose and motivation of the party advocating termination: if the sole purpose of the party is to evade the obligation of paying the FA remuneration, the party should be ordered to pay in full; if the FA contract is terminated in good faith or the financial adviser made a mistake, the judge should determine the amount of FA remuneration based on the value of financing work.

7. Are financial professional qualifications necessary for financial adviser? Which criterion should be applied to determine the amount of FA remuneration when non-professional person perform the FA contract? In 2019, the people’s court of Luohu District of Shenzhen City entered into “（2019）粤0303民初7193号” judgement and confirmed that personnel engaged in financial advisory should fit corresponding professional qualifications, non-professional person’s financing active does not be regard as performing the FA contract, nevertheless, the judge does not deny the promotion to investment transaction simply in the light of non-professional, non-professional person who facilitates investment transaction is entitled to be paid according to the discretion of the role and value in the investment transaction.

8. How to distinguish between securities commission agreement and FA contract in financial service involving securities sales? In 2019, Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court entered into “（2019）沪01民终92号” judgement and clarified FA contract and securities consignment agreement in the field of securities sales: when the financial adviser only recommends the counterparty but not directly concludes securities trading and not interferes in the transaction, the contract should be recognized as a FA contract; when the financial adviser directly concludes securities trading or securities brokerage, rather than just facilitates the transactions, the nature of the contract is a securities consignment agreement.

9. How to deal with the cases that the FA remuneration is stipulated in the investment agreement or the FA remuneration included in investment cost? When the FA remuneration is stipulated in the investment agreement between investor and target company or in the investment cost of the investor, and the parties (including but not limited investors and financial advisers) claim for FA remuneration in the investment contract disputes, attribute to different legal relationship between investment contract disputes and FA contract disputes, the people’s court would inform the plaintiffs to file another lawsuit based on FA contract.

10. When the original FA contract missed or did not entered at all, is it possible to confirm the formation of the FA contract based on relative records such as Wechat, email, fax, etc.? In 2018, Intermediate People’s Court of Shenzhen entered“(2018)粤03民终20229号”judgement and confirmed: although the plaintiff could not provide the original FA contract, it could be presumed that the financial advisory contractual relationship was established based on the actual situation of the wechat records, e-mail and investment transactions between the counterpart and the investor.

11. Does the nature of FA contract in the banking field differentiate to the FA contract in the other field? Could the counterparty assert to cut down the FA remuneration merely based on relevance relationship between the banker and financial adviser involved in? In 2019, Shanghai Higher People’s Court entered into “（2018）沪民申1198号” judgement and confirmed: FA contracts in the field of pure banking market are intermediary agreements rather than service agreements of corporate governance, there are essential differences between financial borrowing and investment, the lenders in banking field do not pay much attention to corporate governance as in investors do to the profitability and development prospects of target companies, the most important function of the financial adviser in the financial borrowing is recommending lenders and facilitate loan transactions rather than facilitating target company to optimize corporate governance. Although decreasing difficulty and reducing burden of the financial adviser because of the relevance relationship between the banker and the financial adviser involved, the people’s court insists that the counterparty must not assert to cut down the FA remuneration merely based on this relevance relationship.

12. What are the criteria for judging whether the FA remuneration is abnormal higher than market level or not? In 2019, Shanghai Higher People’s Court entered into “（2018）沪民申1198号” judgment and confirmed: the people’s court or arbitration institutions should not initiatively adjust the amount of FA remunerations clearly agreed upon both parties. In the area of financial borrowing, the 24% interest rate ceiling can be used as a reference for the total amount of FA remunerations, however, it is not mandatory.

13. When financial adviser provides service enforcing target company to list on the New Third Board of PRC security market and similar plates, and then the target company argues that the service has no substantial content and the fund-raising subject has not been realized, would the FA remuneration be cut down or erased? In 2019, Yichang Intermediate People’s Court entered “(2018)鄂05民终3165号” judgement and confirmed: the role of financial adviser in the New Three Board listing or similar transactions does not depend on the target company’s acquisition of funds as the basis for judging the completion of financial adviser’s obligation, therefore, even if the amount of funds raised after listing is very small, the target company should still pay the FA remuneration as promised.

14. Could the FA contract be terminated after its expiration? In 2019, Suqian Intermediate People’s Court of Jiangsu Province entered “(2018)苏13民终3938号” judgement and confirmed: when the plaintiff proposes to terminate the contract after the expiration of FA contract or after the completion of the investment transaction, the people’s court should overrule the claim.

15. How to calculate the liquidated damages for target company’s default of FA remuneration? Generally speaking, the liquidated manages should be calculated according to the relative clause of FA contract, if there is no corresponding clause, the liquidate damages might be calculated by referring to the interest rate of loans published by the People’s Bank of China in the same period.

16. Could the paid FA remuneration be asserted to return under the name of improper enrichment? In 2018, Higher People’s Court of Qinghai Province entered “(2017)青民初42号” judgement and confirmed: it is generally not allowed to assert returning FA remuneration under the name of improper enrichment unless validity defect in the FA contract proved by enough evidence.

17. Upon completion of the performance of the FA contract, the target company has not been financed or not achieved any other goal, could the financial adviser not claim any cost at all? In 2019, Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court entered “(2018)沪01民终9888号” judgement and confirmed: FA contract naturally contains intermediary content. According to article 427 of Contract Law of PRC, when intermediary is not successfully facilitate transaction, the intermediary has no right to claim intermediary remuneration (including servicing fees), however, the necessary expenses incurred during the performance of the FA contract might be claimed.

18. When public officials and his or her specific relationship person (including but not limited immediate relatives, closing friends, stakeholders) charge fees in the name of FA remuneration, the people’s court would sentence the relevant person crime of bribery, such as “（2006）湘高法刑二终字第84号”, “(2018)黔0325刑初141号”, “(2018)川15刑终238号”.

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[1]Zhisheng (victor) Zhang is founding partner of Beijing Xiuzhong Law firm and expertise on business disputes litigation and arbitration.