INTRODUCTION
It is well known the corporate obligation to register the control situation in the mercantile registry for those entities domiciled in Colombia and which are controlling, or controlled entities (the “Obligation”). However, there has been an interpretation of such obligation that it is only binding for Colombian companies and not for branches of a foreign company (the “Branch”).
Regarding such discussion, repeated doctrine of the Superintendence of Companies (the “Superintendence”) establishes that foreign companies with a Branch are subject to the Obligation and must comply with it.
Additionally, the Superintendence issued a Resolution – at the end of last year – imposing a sanction on a foreign company with Branches in Colombia for not registering the control situation (and corporate group with respect to the aforementioned Branches).
QUESTION 1:
What is understood as “control situation” (the “Situation”)?
ASW/:
From a corporate perspective, “control” refers to the condition where the decision-making power of a company is subject to the will of one or more persons (individual or legal). The person who “controls” is called “parent” or “controlling” company, while the controlled company is called “subordinate”. This Situation may be direct or indirect, the latter being when it is exercised through other companies.
QUESTION 2:
Why is it relevant for the business world to disclose the Situation?
ANS/:
The disclosure of the existence of such Situation is of public interest. Since when this information is unknown there is a risk for stakeholders who interact with companies because, in simple terms, they would be blind as to who controls the company with which they are interacting.
Likewise, this serves for the government to comply with social functions of great historical and current relevance for the country, such as (i) fighting against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, (ii) as well as other corporate processes including: the piercing of the corporate veil or the disregard of the legal personality of the legal entity; the subsidiary or joint liability of the parent company and shareholders in bankruptcy events; when the company is used in fraud to the law or in detriment of third parties, as well as for the verification of the reality of the operations between a company and its related parties.
QUESTION 3:
Should the disclosure of the control situation be exercised over the foreign company or the branch in Colombia?
ANS/:
The foreign company is an independent legal entity, while the Branch does not have legal personality, but it is an extension of the foreign corporation in Colombian territory.
Based on the foregoing, the control is exercised over the foreign company and not over the Branch.
QUESTION 4:
In what scenario should the foreign company’s Situation be registered in the mercantile registry of the foreign company branch?
ANS/:
The Situation must be registered when the foreign company (owner of the Branch in Colombia) is, directly or indirectly, controlled at a higher level. When such Situation is configured, it will be necessary to register it in the mercantile registry of the Branch in order to comply with the Obligation.
In this sense, if there is no company at a higher level that exercises control over the foreign company the Situation will not take place between the foreign company and the Branch in Colombia, consequently there would be no Obligation. In any case, the foreign company does not exercise the Situation over its own Branch in Colombian territory, since it is the same legal entity (i.e., an extension of itself).
导言
众所周知，住所地在哥伦比亚的公司有义务在商业登记中心登记其控制权情况，包括其控制实体或受控实体（以下简称“义务”）。但有一种解释认为，该义务仅适用于哥伦比亚公司，不适用于外国公司在哥伦比亚的分公司 (以下简称 “分公司”)。
关于这一讨论，公司监管局（SuperSociedades）多次声明，在哥伦比亚设有分公司的外国公司也必须遵守该义务。
此外，去年年底，公司监管局发布了一项决议，对未登记控制权情况的在哥伦比亚设立分公司的外国公司（以及该分公司的总公司集团）实施制裁。
问题 1：
“控制权情况”的概念是什么？
答复：
从公司角度看，控制是指公司的决策权受制于一个或多个自然人或法人的意志。拥有控制权的被称为“母公司”或 “控股股东”，而被控制的公司被称为 “子公司”。控制可以是直接的，也可以是间接的。间接控制是指通过其他公司行使控制权。
问题 2：
为什么公司有必要披露控制权情况？
答复 ：
披露控制权情况符合公众利益，因为当这些信息不为人知时，与公司打交道的利益相关者就会面临风险。简单来说，他们不知道谁控制着与他们打交道的公司。
同样，这也有助于国家履行对国家具有重大历史意义和现实意义的社会职能，如：（一）打击洗钱和资助恐怖主义的行为，（二）其他公司程序，包括揭开公司面纱或解散法人实体；在破产事件中母公司或总公司的的补充责任或连带责任；或当公司被用于法律欺诈或损害第三方利益时，用于核实公司与其相关方之间所开展业务的真实性。
问题 3：
应当披露外国公司还是其在哥伦比亚分公司的控制权情况？
答复 ：
外国公司是独立的法人实体，而外国公司的分公司不具有法人资格，只是其在哥伦比亚境内的延伸。
根据上述规定，应当披露的是外国公司的控制权情况。
问题 4：
在什么情况下，外国公司的控制权情况应在外国公司分公司的商业登记中进行登记？
答复 ：
当外国公司（哥伦比亚分公司对应的总公司）直接或间接受上级公司控制时，必须进行情况登记。出现这种情况时，有必要在分公司的商业登记处登记该情况，以履行相应义务。
如果没有更高级别的公司对外国公司实施控制，外国公司和在哥伦比亚的分公司之间就不会出现控制权情况，因此也就不存在相应的义务。在任何情况下，外国公司不会对其在哥伦比亚境内的分公司实施控制，因为它是同一个法人（即自身的延伸）。