Hello, illegal fund-raising is a kind of criminal activity, which means that a unit or individual raises funds from the public by issuing stocks, bonds, lottery tickets, investment fund securities or other creditor's rights certificates without the approval of the relevant departments in accordance with legal procedures, and promises to repay the principal and interest to investors in cash, in kind or in other ways within a certain period of time.

First, whether to publicly issue.

Private equity funds, as the name implies, can only raise funds from specific targets privately, and cannot be promoted to the public like Public Offering of Fund (which requires stricter conditions and approval procedures). Therefore, some ways of public offering funds are strictly prohibited in private equity funds. For example, you can't publicize it through public media such as newspapers, radio, television and the Internet, and you can't publicize it to unspecified people through leaflets, short messages, WeChat, blogs and emails. In practice, financial lectures, investment lectures and other publicity forms virtually push the fund-raising behavior of private equity funds to the brink of crime, so fund companies should be cautious. If the relevant institutions adopt the above-mentioned methods to publicize and promote to the public, it may violate the boundary of illegally absorbing public deposits.

Second, whether to register for the record

Legitimate private equity funds and their management institutions shall be registered in the administrative department for industry and commerce, and registered in China Asset Management Association in accordance with the Measures for the Registration of Private Equity Fund Managers and Fund Filing (Trial). "Illegal" in illegal fund-raising refers to absorbing funds in the form of legal operation without the approval of relevant departments according to law. Therefore, whether a private equity fund establishes a fund is one of its legal factors.

Third, is it a real project?

The initiation of private equity funds is generally based on a project, and it is necessary to indicate which project the funds are used for in the fundraising agreement. The existence of real projects is a key factor in the legitimacy of private equity funds. At the same time, the real project also includes whether the funds are earmarked. Private equity funds should be earmarked for special purposes, and it is best to entrust a third-party institution to conduct custody or entrust loans. Fund property must be distinguished from the property of the fund manager.

In practice, some private fund management is chaotic, the funds are not earmarked, they are not entrusted to commercial banks for management, and even the liquidity of personal bank cards is used, and the fund operation is not strictly in accordance with the management regulations. Once these violations are used by criminals, there will be cases of "absconding with money", "squandering for personal use" and "using funds for illegal and criminal activities", which will easily bring the risk of committing the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits and fund-raising fraud to private equity enterprises. Therefore, if the project does not exist, or the funds are not used for the project in the end, it may turn into "illegal possession" fund-raising fraud.

Fourth, are there many people?

Private equity funds should have strict restrictions on investors and the number of people. In terms of the number limit, the cumulative number of investors in a single private equity fund shall not exceed the specific number stipulated by the Securities Investment Fund Law, the Company Law, the Partnership Enterprise Law and other laws: if it is established in the form of a joint stock limited company, the number of investors (including legal persons and natural persons) shall not exceed 200; In the form of limited companies and partnerships, the number of investors shall not exceed 50. Investors who do not meet the above requirements and whose number exceeds the limit are likely to constitute illegal fund-raising. Although the crime of illegal fund-raising does not simply consider the number of investors (considering the amount of investment), according to the characteristics of private equity funds, if investors invest a small amount and a large number, they are suspected of illegal fund-raising.

At present, private equity funds raise funds through holding shares or channels, so be cautious. This behavior has brought huge legal risks to the operation of private equity enterprises. Once the maximum number of investors is exceeded, it is easy to be suspected of raising funds from unspecified objects, which may constitute the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits.

5. Do you promise benefits?

Private fund managers and private fund sales institutions shall not promise investors that the investment principal will not be lost or guarantee the minimum income. If the promoters of private equity funds promise investors a high proportion of guaranteed income and give a clear agreement on repayment of principal and interest or a certain return, then the institution also constitutes a crime. The "commitment" in illegal fund-raising refers to repayment of principal and interest or payment of returns in the form of money, kind and equity within a certain period of time. Generally speaking, fund companies can only emphasize "expected returns" and at the same time make clear the investment risks.

If you encounter illegal fund-raising, don't panic first, and the parties can report the case immediately. When the rights and interests of the parties are infringed, they can safeguard their legitimate rights and interests through legal channels. If necessary, criminal lawyer Wang/Xue/Qiang/can be invited to intervene.