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Legal Updates

  • Doing business in Hong Kong

    Introduction On 1 July 1997, sovereignty over Hong Kong transferred to the People’s Republic of China with Hong Kong designated the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the PRC. Upon resumption of sovereignty to China, Hong Kong became subject to the Basic Law, which is…Read More

  • Overview of the Insolvency Regime in Hong Kong

    1 Issues Arising When a Company is in Financial Difficulties 1.1 How does a creditor take security over assets in Hong Kong? Generally speaking, a creditor taking security over the assets of a Hong Kong company is most likely to do so by either a…Read More

  • Mediation – Recent Court Decisions in Hong Kong

    Introduction Meditation is a voluntary process where the parties agree to appoint an objective third party (the mediator) to help to resolve the problem out of court. This method of alternative dispute resolution is designed to save time and costs of litigation. Since 1 January…Read More

  • New Statement on Professional Ethics in Liquidation and Insolvency

    From 1 April 2012 Hong Kong insolvency practitioners will have to contend with a much expanded statement on “Professional Ethics in Liquidation and Insolvency” in the HKICPA’S Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (the “Code”). The new statement on “Professional Ethics in Liquidation and Insolvency”…Read More

  • New Legislation on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Anti-money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Financial Institutions) Ordinance (Cap 615) (AMLO) -Effective date 1 April 2012

    The AMLO is concerned with making Consumer Due Diligence (CDD) and compulsory record keeping by financial institutions enforceable by law. It should be noted that new offences have been introduced for failure to observe the CDD provisions set out under Schedule 2 of the AMLO….Read More

  • The Competition Ordinance

    INTRODUCTION The Competition Ordinance (“Ordinance“), enacted on 14 June 2012, introduces a cross sector competition law in Hong Kong for the first time. The institutional provisions of the Ordinance will come into force first to enable the establishment of the Competition Commission (“Commission”), Competition Tribunal…Read More

  • Protection of Wages on Insolvency (Amendment) Ordinance 2012

    Employees in Hong Kong famously enjoy a relatively liberal 12 days of statutory holidays every year (statutory holidays are referred to as “public holidays” in certain other jurisdictions where, rather confusingly, the term “statutory holidays” is used to refer to annual leave). When you factor…Read More

  • Reserve Director

    Are you a sole director and shareholder of a Hong Kong company? A board of directors generally exercise most of the powers of a company and in the case where there is only one director, that sole director is the only person who can exercise…Read More

  • Not knowing the identity of the wrongdoer? A third party can help!

    X stole the money of Y, deposited the crime proceeds into Bank A and further transferred it to other banks. Y is preparing to sue X. However, Y has no idea where his money went! Does Bank A have the obligation to disclose what it…Read More

  • Summary of Key Changes in 2013 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules (effective from 1 November 2013)

    This article summarises key changes which arbitration practitioners and clients should be aware of in the revised administered arbitration rules recently unveiled by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (“HKIAC”). The revised rules (the “2013 HKIAC Rules”), finalised after a revision process and consultation period…Read More

  • What you need to know about the latest changes to the Trade Descriptions Ordinance

    The latest amendments to the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (“TDO”) came into effect in Hong Kong on 19 July 2013. The amendments: widened the scope of the TDO; introduced new offences, including misleading omissions, aggressive commercial practices, bait advertising, bait and switch, and wrongly accepting payment;…Read More

  • TDW in the Media

    South China Morning Post, 24 April 2011 – Ian De Witt is quoted in an report by Chris Davis headlined “Just how professional are the professional investors?”. Ian expresses some views on professional investors, and advocates mandatory indemnity insurance for all advisers.South China Morning Post,…Read More