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 ...
On 20 July 2021, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued a draft guideline on climate risk management for consultation with the banking industry with comments due by 20 August 2021. The guideline includes expectations on governance, strategy, risk management and disclosure ...
In the recent US case of In Re Citibank August 11, 2020 Wire Transfers (Revlon), the New York federal court held that lenders in a syndicated loan were not obliged to return an erroneous payment made by the syndicated facility agent due to the ‘discharge for value’ principle, which operated as a successful defence to unjust enrichment (click here for the full decision) ...
Health and safety issues in the agricultural and rural sector are a matter of considerable concern. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is urging farmers to make safety a priority to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities in the sector. This recent campaign was prompted by four fatalities over a fortnight, coming only weeks after Farm Safety Week ...
In an article published earlier this year, we discussed how the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law, L.188(I)/2007 (the “AML Law”) was amended in order to harmonise domestic legislation with the 4th and 5th AML Directives (Directives (EU) 2015/849 and 2018/843 and how it introduced, for the first time, provision for the registration of Crypto-Asset Service Providers (“CASPS”) ...
Private equity investors in nursing homes should brace and prepare for an active near-term enforcement environment. Congressional skepticism of private equity involvement in healthcare, developments in False Claims Act cases and Department of Justice priorities all point towards increasing scrutiny of private equity investment in skilled nursing facilities ...
On 10 August 2021, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published consultation conclusions on its proposals to (1) implement an investor identification regime at the trading level for the securities market in Hong Kong and (2) introduce an over-the-counter securities transactions reporting regime for shares listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (Conclusions). The original consultation paper is available here and the Conclusions are available here ...
In our previous article (Cryptocurrency – The Future of Money), we provided an overview of the key ideas behind cryptocurrency. In this article, we look at how cryptocurrency and digital currency might impact the corporate banking and finance market ...
Banking & Finance The Central Bank of Malta Issues Directive 19 on the Use of Cheques and Bank Drafts Directive No 19 ‘on the Use of Cheques and Bank Drafts’ was issued by the Central Bank of Malta on 7th July 2021 with the aim of promoting safe and effective use of cheques and bank drafts drawn on Maltese banks and financial institutions ...
Financial ServicesBank Negara Malaysia issues Policy Document on Reference Rate FrameworkThe policy document on Reference Rate Framework (“RRF PD”) was issued by Bank Negara Malaysia (“BNM”) on 11 August 2021 and will come into effect on 1 August 2022 ...
Cryptocurrency, for most of us at least, has been hidden behind a veil of incomprehensible idiom for most of its lifespan. However, it has the potential to revolutionise the way we pay, borrow and lend, maybe sooner rather than later. Like quantum computing and artificial intelligence, we are told they’re set to change the world but few of us understand how that might actually work or what their impact might be ...
The Thai government has made significant changes to interest and default interest rates to modernize Thai law and also reflect the country’s current economic situation. Due to the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many debtors are struggling to meet the timelines for their loan payment obligations. The Emergency Decree amending the Civil and Commercial Code B.E ...
Last year, we reported on the important decision of the Royal Court of Jersey in April 2020 in Re Grundy [2020] JRC 071, which case our firm presented to the Royal Court and which demonstrated the flexibility of the remedies available under Jersey law where a successful application to set aside the exercise of a fiduciary power on grounds of mistake and/or inadequate deliberation is made (No re-writing history: the flexibility of Jersey’s remedies for mistake and inadequate deliber
BACKGROUND Complexities arise when arranging financings to co-investment structures, especially if the credit support includes security over shares granted by some (but not all) of the shareholders ...
In May 2021, we published an article, Milestone in Hong Kong-Mainland China cross border insolvency: Mutual recognition of and assistance to Insolvency Proceedings between Hong Kong and Mainland China, which highlighted the key features of the cooperation mechanism in relation to Hong Kong-Mainland China cross border insolvency set out in the Record of Meeting of the Supreme People’s Court and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Mutual Recognition of a
In recent years, there has been an increasing trend for different creditors to issue multiple petitions against the same debtor company. This may be due to the large number of listed companies in Hong Kong encountering financial difficulties during this period of economic downturn, or simply a lack of knowledge of the law in this area ...
Financial ServicesRecovery Planning Policy DocumentFollowing feedback on its exposure draft, Bank Negara Malaysia has issued a revised policy document on recovery planning which are applicable to banks and investments banks licensed under the Financial Services Act 2013, Islamic banks licensed under the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 and financial holding companies of the foregoing mentioned licensed entities (collectively, the “FIs”) ...
Starting around October 26, 2020, the Small Business Administrations (the “SBA”) asked Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) lenders to provide certain questionnaires to PPP borrowers with loans of $2 million or greater. There are two questionnaire forms on the Treasury: Form 3509 for for-profit borrowers and Form 3510 for non-profit borrowers ...
With SEC Form 10-Qs for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, due shortly, and SEC Form 10‑Ks for companies with June 30 year ends due in the next few weeks, publicly traded companies that received PPP loans, even those that have had those loans forgiven, need to review and update their SEC disclosures regarding their PPP loan ...
The ESG Disclosure Rules have been introduced in response to the increased investor appetite for socially and environmentally responsible investments and to ensure that Jersey maintains its high regulatory standards amid global concerns regarding ‘greenwashing’ (firms marketing investments which appear more environmentally and socially focussed than they are in reality) ...
The following is a list of best practices applicable to the share class review process. This guide aims to provide helpful tips regarding the process of replacing an advisory client’s existing mutual fund share class with a lower-cost alternative, where it is identified that a replacement option exists and may be available for placement in the client’s account at the custodian. Review of share classes on a periodic basis ...
Introduction The ‘golden thread’ of modified universalism in cross border insolvency has long been an aspiration, rather than a rule. [1] The common law concepts of recognition and assistance play a key role in achieving that aspiration. In recent years these concepts have been affirmed but scaled back, by decisions such as that in Singularis Holdings Limited v PricewaterhouseCoopers ...
In summary, this note includes information in relation to: the UK REIT regime; advantages of using a Jersey company as the REIT vehicle; TISE listing process and listing document requirements; TISE’s continuing obligations requirements; and Carey Olsen and our REIT experience. We trust that the above will be of assistance ...
