The 1997 Criminal Law provides that individual directors are liable for resolutions of the board that violate the law or result in serious losses to the FIE. A director can be protected only if he or she expresses opposition to the proposed action and records such opposition in the minutes of the directors' meeting.
The Criminal Law makes it a crime to alter or falsify financial instruments including bills of exchange, promissory notes, checks, bank deposit slips, collection vouchers, letters of credit, or credit card applications. It is also a crime to alter or falsify state treasury bonds or other negotiable instruments issued by the Chinese government, or to alter or falsify share certificates of an enterprise. The Criminal Law further provides that money laundering and tax evasion are crimes. Such crimes may result in lengthy prison terms and monetary penalties.
