On Friday, Feb.28, the bitcoinexchangeMt.Gox filed for bankruptcy under Japan's Civil Rehabilitation (MinjiSaisei) code, revealing that it was insolvent and seeking protection from creditors. On its website, the firm stated that it hoped to restructure and continue in business "in order to increase repayments to our creditors."

    Almost immediately, the London-based firm Selachii LLP, which has provided services to many bitcoin businesses, began assembling a class action lawsuit against the management of Mt.Gox on the basis of suspected negligence and fraud. A similar fraud suit has been filed in the Illinois District Court in the United States. More cases will almost certainly be filed as the international legal system attempts to process the loss of nearly half a billion dollars in investments.

    The civil suits are necessary for a simple but not quite obvious reason: The tens of thousands of people whose bitcoin or fiat currency were held and then apparently lost by Mt.Gox are not creditors, and the bankruptcy process will not directly help them regain their property.

    As with most bankruptcy processes, civil rehabilitation will address only debt obligations including loans, outstanding service debts, and investments. In the absence of any FDIC-like backing, civil litigation is the only apparent path for depositor recovery.

    The path to civil rehabilitation

    The civil rehabilitation process has many commonalities with American Chapter 11 restructuring. According to Kazuaki Nagai of the Tokyo firm Anderson, Mori &Tomotsune, the immediate next step will be judicial approval of the filing for civil rehabilitation. "In the standard case, the decision is made one week from the date of petition," which means it could come as quickly as Friday, March 7. However, Nagai warns, "In this case, it's very complicated, [so] it may take more time."

    There is also the chance that a judge may deny the application for civil rehabilitation -- if, for example, there is patent evidence of fraud, or if it is judged unlikely that a voting body of creditors would approve a restructuring plan.

    The timing of any acceptance of Mt.Gox's application for civil rehabilitation will have major implications because, according to Article 124 of Japan's civil rehabilitation code, liabilities may be registered at market values when rehabilitation commences. This throws cold water on Mt.Gox's delusional habit of valuing its obligations at its rock-bottom internal price (referenced in the leaked 'Crisis Strategy Draft' document). Moreover, the price of bitcoin has recovered by around 20% since the initial filing, vastly increasing Gox's outstanding liabilities.

    However, Article 124 also allows the court to order that valuation of liabilities be made on a continuing basis as the company restructures. Given bitcoin's volatility in recent years, this could leave a restructured Mt. Gox chasing an ever-mounting pile of obligations to bitcoin-denominated creditors – or it could mean those debts shrink to nearly nothing, if bitcoin collapses under the weight of failures like Mt. Gox's own.

    Once the filing for civil rehabilitation is approved, Mt.Gox will be expected to assemble a proposal for restructuring, including proposed repayments for creditors. At the same time, creditors will need to file details of what they are owed, both to establish claims and to gain voting rights over the proposal.

    2月28日星期五，比特币交易平台Mt. Gox根据日本《民事再生法》【Civil Rehabilitation (MinjiSaisei) code】向法院递交了破产申请，宣布已经破产，同时向债权人寻求保护。这家公司在官方网站上发表声明称，公司希望进行重组，继续运营，“以提高向债权人的还款。”

    伦敦的另一家比特币交易服务商Selachii LLP公司闻讯立即召集了一群受害者向Mt. Gox公司发起了集体诉讼，指控它涉嫌严重过失和诈骗。美国伊利诺斯地区法院也接到了针对Mt. Gox的诈骗诉讼。由于这次Mt. Gox造成的损失高达5亿美元，全球各地的法院无疑还会接到更多类似的诉讼案件。

    这种民事诉讼还是很必要的，原因不是很明显，但也很简单：Mt. Gox的失误导致成千上万人委托给其交易的比币特和合法货币蒙受了损失。但这些人不是债权人，Mt. Gox的破产程序不能直接帮助他们挽回损失的财产。

    就像大多数破产程序一样，Mt. Gox的民事重组只能解决债务问题，包括贷款、未偿还的服务债务以及投资。由于Mt. Gox背后没有像美国联邦存款保险公司（FDIC）这种为存款提供保险的金融机构支持，因此在这种情况下，民事诉讼成了储户能追回损失的唯一一条明显的途径。

    民事重组之路

    东京Anderson, Mori &Tomotsune公司的永井一彰（音译）指出，日本的民事再生程序与美国破产法第11章的重组程序有很多共性，Mt. Gox下一步首先要等待民事再生申请的司法批准。“在标准情况下，是否受理的决定从申请之日起一周的时间就能下来”，也就是，说可能3月7号星期五就能有结果。不过，永井一彰也表示：“这个案子的情况很复杂，所以可能要多花些时间。”

    同时，也不能排除法官最终不批准民事再生的可能——比如如果真的存在明显的欺诈证据，或者如果法官认为重组计划不太可能被债权人投票通过的话。

    法院批准Mt. Gox民事重组申请的时机也会产生重大的影响，因为根据日本《民再事生法》第124条规定，它所承担的债务会按重组开始时的市值进行登记。这给Mt. Gox兜头浇了一盆冷水，因为Mt. Gox公司一份泄露出来的《危机策略方案》文件中曾提到，这家公司还痴心妄想用跌到谷底的内部价格为债务估值。另外自Mt. Gox申请破产重组以来，比特币的价格又回升了大约20%，因此大大提升了Mt.Gox未偿债务的价值。

    不过，《民事再生法》第124条也允许法院在公司重组过程中按照持续经营基准裁定其债务估值。考虑到比特币币值近年来的波动性，这意味着Mt. Gox的债务可能会越还越高，但反过来，假如比特币这个概念在“蒸发门”之类的打击下彻底崩盘的话，这些债务也有可能会缩水到几乎一文不值。

    一旦民事重组申请获得批准，Mt. Gox就要提交一份重组方案，其中包括向债权人偿还债务的方案。与此同时，债权人则需要提供详细的债务证明，一方面是为了证明债权关系，另一方面也是为了获得重组方案的投票权。

    The proposal will need approval from a majority of creditors. Given the distrust directed at Mt.Gox and Mark Karpeles even before the revelation of insolvency, it seems entirely possible that creditors will reject any restructuring bid in favor of liquidation.

    However, Nagai warns, "In practice it's difficult for international creditors to get information or to take part in the creditors meetings" in a civil rehabilitation case. Even leaving aside barriers of language and distance, Japanese legal processes are less public and transparent than those in the United States. For instance, bankruptcy documents are not generally available to the public, though interested parties, including creditors, can obtain copies by special request.

    Even if they are not able to vote on the restructuring plan, creditors and depositors skeptical of Mt.Gox management can be reassured that Mark Karpeles is unlikely to retain a meaningful role. Under civil rehabilitation, says Nagai, "It's usual that management who have responsibility for [the] bankruptcy will quit or lose their ability to manage the company." That responsibility devolves to their legal team, any sponsoring lenders, and members of management not directly responsible for the bankruptcy.

    The process of planning and approving a restructuring generally takes about six months in Japan, though again, the complexity of the Mt. Gox case may slow that. Another unusually high hurdle is the likely necessity and difficulty of Mt.Gox locating a sponsor organization willing to fund its restructuring -- a role commonly taken by a bank. Given the very murky circumstances and lack of information surrounding its fall, Mt.Gox may have serious difficulty locating an institution willing to back its attempt to return to solvency.

    Civil suits for depositors

    But little of this is directly relevant for depositors who have may have lost dollars, euro, yen, or bitcoin held in trust by Mt.Gox, who will have to seek restitution through civil litigation.

    Numbers released by Mt.Gox seem to indicate that they are counting as assets all bitcoin and cash holdings that have remained intact. But Joe Gluxman, a bankruptcy specialist with the firm Scarinci& Hollenbeck, points out that this contradicts basic principles of international finance. "If I buy a share of stock and put it in a safe deposit box at a bank owned by UBS, it doesn't belong to UBS." In other words, cash or bitcoin linked to Mt. Gox customer accounts are not in any sense legal assets of Mt. Gox, and are not subject to recovery by debtors or depositors through bankruptcy.

    The Selachii class action suit is aimed both at recovery of Mt. Gox customer property, and discovery of where the assets went. (Applications for inclusion close at 4 p.m. GMT on Friday, March 7.) "The general consensus was that the way Mt. Gox went down was suspicious. Whilst they're filing for bankruptcy, lots of people are asking a lot of questions and can't get answers," says the firm's Richard Howlett.

    重组方案必须获得大多数债权人的投票支持。考虑到早在Mt. Gox破产的消息传出之前，外界对Mt. Gox和马克•卡佩勒斯就已经产生了不信任感，债权人完全有可能拒绝重组方案，而更倾向于破产清算。

    不过永井一彰也指出，在日本的民事再生案件里，“国际债权人一般很难获得信息，也很难参加债权人会议。”就算不考虑语言和距离的障碍，日本的法律程序也不像美国这样公开透明。比如破产文件一般不会向社会公开，但是对此感兴趣的有关方面包括债权人还是能通过特殊要求获得破产文件的复件印。

    即使国际债权人无法参与重组方案的投票，对于那些不放心卡佩勒斯人品的债权人和想挽回损失的储户们来说，他们也不用担心卡佩勒斯会在重组后的公司担任重要角色。永井一彰指出，在日本的重组程序下，“对破产负有责任的高层人员通常要么会辞职，要么会失去管理公司的能力。”相应地，权力会转让给法务团队、赞助银行以及不直接对破产负有责任的管理人员等。

    日本企业破产重组的规划和审批过程一般需要六个月左右，不过Mt. Gox一案的复杂性可能再次会拖慢这个过程。Mt.Gox另一个要逾越的障碍是，找到一家愿意资助其重组的赞助机构——这个角色通常由一家银行来扮演。由于此案的水又深又浑，Mt. Gox估计很难找到这样一家愿意帮它重新站起来的机构。

    民事诉讼对债权人的影响

    不过对于损失惨重的各国债权人或者把比特币委托给Mt. Gox交易的散户来说，Mt. Gox的重组与他们的直接关系并不大，他们最终还是必须寻求通过诉诸民事诉讼来挽回损失。

    Mt. Gox发布的数据似乎表明，Mt. Gox公司把它托管的现有比特币和现金都算成了自己的资产。但是Scarinci& Hollenbeck公司的破产专家乔•格鲁克斯曼指出，这与国际金融的基本原则是矛盾的。“如果我买了一支股票，然后把它放在一个保险箱里，再把保险箱放在瑞银的一个银行，并不等于它是瑞银的资产。”换句话说，Mt. Gox客户账户里的现金和比特币无论如何也谈不上是Mt. Gox的合法资产，而且也不能在破产中还给债务人或债权人。

    伦敦Selachii公司发起的集体诉讼一是要追回Selachii客户的财产，二是要查清这些财产去了哪里。这家公司的理查德•豪利特沈括：“大家都认为Mt. Gox的破产过程很可疑。虽然他们在申请破产，但是很多人都提出了很多疑问，而且得不到答案。”

    Mt. Gox has claimed that its loss was due to a hack or theft of an as-yet-unspecified nature, but the suit will put legal force behind widespread speculation about negligence and fraud. "All of the computers at Mt. Gox will need to be forensically examined," says Howlett -- including Mark Karpeles's personal computer.

    The other major question looming over any civil suit is that of where the money for a settlement would come from, given Gox's claims to have lost all but a fraction of deposits. But, says Howlett, "[if] there has been any element of negligence or wrongful trading ... that's when you can start looking at the directors" as a source of settlement funds. Howlett says reports of Mark Karpeles's personal wealth have varied greatly, from near destitution to a personal fortune of up to $250 million, which could go a long way to making depositors whole.

    Another source of compensation could include Mt. Gox's parent company, Tibanne, which holds assets such as the bitcoins.com domain name that could be liquidated.

    Finally, private deposit insurance is a legal requirement of doing business in many jurisdictions – but given the lack of any reassuring statements so far from Mt. Gox, Howlett thinks it's a longshot. "I'm assuming they haven't got insurance," he says. "And that's another reason to claim negligence."

    Richard Howlett is at pains to emphasize that he wishes all this wasn't necessary. "We want to reach out to Mt. Gox and Mark Karpeles and see if we can proceed with this matter without having to pursue a class action. But they're impossible to reach."

    Karpeles may come to deeply regret his habits of secrecy and obfuscation. Howlett points out that a finding of fraud or gross negligence in a civil case would almost certainly trigger a criminal investigation, most likely in Japan, that could end with the former CEO behind bars.

    Mt. Gox公司称，“蒸发门”事件是由目前尚未定性的黑客或盗窃行为导致的，但是Selachii公司发起的集体诉讼要求法院彻查背后是否存在大家猜测的重大过失或欺诈。豪利特说：“Mt. Gox公司的所有电脑都要经过司法检查，包括马克•卡佩勒斯的个人电脑。”

    由于Mt. Gox声称储户的所有存款和比特币几乎都在“蒸发门”中蒸发殆尽，所剩的只是一小部分，因此另一个任何民事诉讼都难以绕过的问题也自然浮上水面：Mt. Gox破产清算的　钱从哪里来。豪利特认为：“如果有任何过失或违法交易的因素，大家就可以开始盯着那些董事会成员，”把他们当做清算资金的一个来源。豪利特说，媒体报道的马克•卡佩勒斯的个人财产有很多个版本，相互差距非常大。有的说他几乎一贫如洗，也有的说他的个人财产高达2.5亿美元，后者可能会让债权人颇感一丝安慰。

    赔偿金的另一个来源也可能包括Mt. Gox的母公司Tibanne。后者的资产包括bitcoins.com的域名，它也可以清算成资金。最后，在很多国家的法律中，私人存款保险都是从事金融业务必须满足的一个法律要求，但是鉴于Mt. Gox现在也没有发布进一步稳定人心的声明，豪利特认为它有存款保险的可能性不大。他说：“我认为他们没有保险，而这也是我们指控它涉嫌存在过失的另一个原因。”

    理查德•豪利特强调，他并不希望一定要在法庭上解决问题。“我们希望接触Mt. Gox公司和马克•卡佩勒斯，看看我们能否不通过诉诸集体诉讼来解决问题。但是我们没法接触到他们。”

    卡佩勒斯可能会后悔他那神神秘秘、遮遮掩掩的习惯。豪利特指出，在民事案件中，如果发现欺诈和严重过失的证据，几乎肯定会引起刑事调查程序，尤其是在日本。如果是这样的话，这位前CEO有可能会锒铛入狱。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎