Core Viewpoint - The Shanghai Financial Court ruled on the bond issuance false statement case involving Shanghai Huaxin International Group, determining that five institutions share 14.5% of the liability for the plaintiff's loss of 128 million yuan, amounting to over 18.56 million yuan [3][14]. Summary by Sections Case Background - The bonds in question were issued by Shanghai Huaxin in 2017, with a total issuance amount of 2.5 billion yuan and a coupon rate of 7.5% [3]. - The total amount of bonds issued by the issuer from 2014 to 2017 exceeded 40 billion yuan, indicating the case's significant scale and the number of affected investors [3]. Legal Proceedings - The focus of the dispute included whether Shanghai Huaxin engaged in false statements, the materiality of such statements, and the relationship between the plaintiff's investment losses and these statements [5]. - The court found that Shanghai Huaxin had concealed numerous related parties and failed to disclose significant related transactions, which severely impacted investors' judgment regarding the company's financial health [9][10]. Evidence and Investigation - The plaintiff's legal team undertook extensive investigations, analyzing bond prospectuses and related transactions to establish evidence of false statements [6]. - The complexity of the corporate structure of Shanghai Huaxin, with over 70 associated companies, posed challenges in tracing the relationships and transactions [6][7]. Court's Findings - The court recognized that the issuer had hidden at least 29 related parties and misrepresented transaction amounts, which constituted significant false statements [9]. - The court set March 1, 2018, as the disclosure date, coinciding with media reports about the investigation of the actual controller of Huaxin [10]. Loss Assessment - A third-party expert opinion was commissioned to assess the losses incurred by investors, distinguishing between losses due to false statements and those from other factors [11]. - The assessment concluded that approximately 1.28 billion yuan of the total losses were attributable to false statements, with a detailed breakdown of the contributing factors to the bond price decline [12][13]. Implications for Investor Rights - The ruling sets a precedent for investor claims in cases of false statements without prior regulatory investigations, providing a new avenue for investor protection [16]. - The case highlights the importance of establishing recognized standards for loss assessment models to ensure judicial credibility and consistency in similar cases [15].