Under section 327 of the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 32), the Court can exercise its discretion to wind up a foreign-incorporated company. A recent case reaffirms the three core requirements necessary to enable the court to exercise that discretion ...
In Competition Commission v W. Hing Construction Co Ltd & Ors [2021] HKCA 877, the Court of Appeal refused to determine whether the standard of proof in competition proceedings for a pecuniary penalty should be lowered from the criminal standard of proof to the civil standard of proof, after concluding that the present case was not an appropriate avenue for such issue to be argued ...
In 鄧錦祥 v 鄭鄧錦容 , CACV 370/2019, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal exercised its discretion to dismiss the Respondent’s late application for security for costs and reminded litigants and their legal representatives of their duty to proceed promptly with making interlocutory applications in an appeal, as delay in making such applications can be a ground for the court to dismiss them, especially where a hearing date for the appeal has already been fixed ...
The appeal in ABC Electrification Ltd v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 1645, concerned the proper construction of a Target Cost Contract based upon the standard Institute of Civil Engineers Conditions of Contract, Target Cost Version, First Edition (ICE Conditions) and subject to standard amendments commonly used in the rail industry, known as Network Rail 12 (N12 Amendments) ...
In Hwang Joon Sang & Anor v. Golden Electronics Inc. & Ors (HCA 1529/2019; [2020] HKCFI 1233), the Court made an order requiring various banks to supply documents by way of disclosure to the Plaintiffs and permitting (indeed, encouraging) the banks to do so by use of electronic or digital versions of those documents being uploaded to a data room ...
In Da Shing Group Ltd v Rich Promise Limited [2020] HKCFI 588[1], the Hong Kong Court of First Instance provided guiding principles in the interpretation of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and considered whether pre-contractual exchanges could be admitted as evidence. The MOU in Chinese related to the acquisition of about 50.46% of the shareholding (Shares) in a listed company, Crocodile Garments Limited (Crocodile) ...
In JML-Craft Pty Ltd v China Ping An Insurance (Hong Kong) Company Ltd, HCCT 27/2021, the subcontractor (P) applied for an interlocutory injunction to restrain the main contractor (D2) from making any further demand under a surety bond (Advance Payment Bond) and receiving any payment under it pending disposal of the action, on the grounds that the demand was made fraudulently and/or in bad faith, knowing that it was not entitled to make the demand under the Advance Payment Agreement and/
In the recent case of 1955 Capital Fund I GP LLC & ANOR v Global Industrial Investment Ltd, HCCT 61/2019, Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance set aside an Enforcement Order, whereby the Applicants had been given leave to enforce in Hong Kong an arbitration award (Award) made in California. The Court found that there had been material non-disclosure by the Applicants in their affidavit in support of the application for the Enforcement Order ...
West Kowloon Cultural District Authority v AIG Insurance Hong Kong Limited [2020] HKCFI 569, concerned a bond obtained by the contractor, Hsin Chong Construction Company Limited (Hsin Chong), from the Defendant, AIG Insurance Hong Kong Ltd (AIG), in favour of the Plaintiff, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (West Kowloon), as required under a construction contract ...
On 8 April 2020, the Government announced a HK$137 billion package of anti-epidemic measures to be rolled out, including the Employment Support Scheme (ESS) with a proposed budget of HK$81 billion. The ESS aims to provide financial subsidies to employers in two tranches against their undertaking to spend all the wage subsidies on paying wages to their employees and keep them in employment during the COVID-19 epidemic ...
On 8 April 2020, the Government rolled out the first tranche of the Employment Support Scheme (ESS) for subsidising wages of employees (see our client alerts dated 14 and 20 May 2020 for details of the ESS and its implementation). The Government has just announced details of the second tranche of the ESS covering September to November 2020, which are summarised below ...
In light of the COVID-19 public health crisis, the Government of Hong Kong has taken historic measures to restore confidence and liquidity to the economy. Such measures have taken the form of direct subsidies for both employers and employees, individuals and bodies corporate. A salient issue to consider was, however, whether such subsidies would be chargeable to tax ...
On 27 July 2020, the Centre for Health Protection reported a large-scale outbreak cluster on a construction site at the Peak with 13 workers of Kin Shing (Leung’s) General Contractors Limited being infected with COVID-19. Over 100 people work in the same construction site on a daily basis ...
The Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group co-chaired by the HKMA and the SFC (Steering Group) announced on 15 July 2021 the next steps to advance its strategy to bolster Hong Kong’s position as a leader in green and sustainable finance and help transition the financial ecosystem towards carbon neutrality ...
The Covid-19 pandemic has been reshaping many personal relationships. Cracks in some family relationships have been exacerbated due to high-pressure confinement under the same roof in lockdown. Such rise in marital conflicts has inevitably caused more breakdown of marriages. Amongst these cases, are families who have homes or businesses both in Hong Kong and Mainland China, who need to consider whether the divorce proceedings should be instituted in Hong Kong or Mainland China ...
Nowadays, we live in an information age (also known as the computer age, digital age or new media age) and the advancement of technologies has facilitated information flow and communication through social media. On one hand, people have easy and quick access to others’ information, enabling interaction with one another. However, the free flow of information and wide participation in social media networks also exposes a person to various risks or dangers ...
On 10 June 2021, the Data Security Law (DSL), which will become effective as of 1 September 2021, was adopted in China. The enactment of the DSL marks the introduction of China’s first fundamental law in the field of data security, which, together with the Cybersecurity Law and the upcoming Personal Information Protection Law, will lay a legal foundation for safeguarding national data security, promoting data utilisation and mitigating the risks of data processing activities ...
On 22 July 2020, data protection authorities from Australia, Canada, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Switzerland and United Kingdom (together the Authorities), issued an open letter (Letter) on global privacy expectations of video teleconferencing companies (VTC companies)[1]. Why there is such a Letter? As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Authorities have witnessed an increasing use of VTC tools, both in social and business contexts ...
An open-ended fund company (OFC) must at all times have an investment manager (Fund Manager) who is responsible for managing the scheme property. To bring in expertise in respect of a specific market or strategy or for other various reasons, Fund Managers may engage sub-managers, advisors or delegates. The delegation of the investment management function by a Fund Manager is permissible under the OFC regime ...
An open-ended fund company (OFC) must at all times have an investment manager (Fund Manager) who is responsible for managing the scheme property. To bring in expertise in respect of a specific market or strategy or for other various reasons, Fund Managers may engage sub-managers, advisors or delegates. The delegation of the investment management function by a Fund Manager is permissible under the OFC regime ...
On 18 October 2007, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a circular which allows delegation of investment management functions by managers of authorised funds to affiliates not based in an Acceptable Inspection Regime (AIR), subject to certain requirements being met. Previously the fund management company of an SFC authorised fund, and all of its delegates with investment discretion, had to be based in Hong Kong or an AIR ...
In employees’ compensation or personal injuries claims, it is not uncommon for the employer or its insurers to directly settle a claim with the injured person before any legal proceedings are commenced. The recent case of Chan Kwok Man v New World First Bus Services Limited DCEC No.186 of 2013 highlights the importance of ensuring that the wording used in discharge forms is clear, unambiguous and consistent and that the discharge form is properly executed ...
The SFC’s recent public reprimand and fine of HK$6.3 million against a licensed corporation (the Company) brings various provisions of the Code of Conduct and Internal Control Guidelines to the forefront. It also highlights the need for licensed corporations to fully comply with any licensing conditions. Outlined in this article are the key facts of this case and a summary of what licensed intermediaries can learn from this disciplinary action ...
As a consequence of the complexity of Hong Kong’s disclosure of interests regime, local substantial shareholders and global investment houses alike frequently fall foul of its provisions. Even robust monitoring and reporting systems can fail to cater to idiosyncrasies of the Hong Kong regime ...
The SFC recently issued a press release and a circular on risk disclosure. The circular reminds issuers of retail investment products, including authorised funds, of their duty to include in offering documents sufficient relevant risk information for investors to make an informed investment decision, and for marketing materials to be "clear, fair and present a balanced picture with adequate and prominent risk disclosure" ...
