After the China ban on ICOs, couldn't ICOs simply be replaced by forks with pre-mines?
That is actually a good theory you have there. It could indeed be a way for companies to bypass government regulation.
It would, however, reveal to the world some ulterior motives of that coin/company has. It would be obvious (with companies that have a larger than necessary premine amount) that they are doing it
not for the coin, technology, or real world use, but rather just for profit. Then investors, hopefully, will see through it and call them out.