In 2013, three high-profiled internet companies, Wisdom
Group, Forgame Holding Limited and Boyya Interactive (Hong Kong)
Limited, have successively completed their initial public
offerings ("IPO") at the main board of
the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, following which, in 2014 two leading
PRC e-commerce giants, Jingdong Group (f.k.a. 360buy.com Group)
and Alibaba Group have officially filed their initial public
offering prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. One thing in common about the above-mentioned issuers
is that they have all adopted a VIE structure. The VIE structure
has thus again attracted much attention from both practitioners and
researchers.
A VIE (variable interest entity) structure, commonly known as a
"Sina structure" by virtue of Sina's successful
listing in the United States which firstly adopted the concept of
VIE, is also often regarded as a "captive structure" or a
"contractual arrangement". Under an VIE arrangement, the
de facto
