In the recent case of Hwang Joon Sang & Anor v. Golden Electronics Inc. & Ors (HCA 1529/2019; [2020] HKCFI 1084), Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance allowed a novel mode of ordinary service of court documents, using an online data room, to which the persons so served were given access by being sent a previously Court-approved letter providing a link to the data room with clear pictorial instructions, and by separate communication an access code to the data room ...
Section 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap. 201) (POBO) criminalizes corrupt transactions with agents in both public and private sectors. The first question which would come to one’s mind is, who is an “agent”? Under section 2 of the POBO, an “agent” includes “a public servant and any person employed by or acting for another” ...
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 ...
Cyber frauds, in particular email scams, have become a common trend of crime in Hong Kong in recent years. Fraudsters use various means to deceive the victims into transferring money to unauthorised bank accounts. Upon discovery of the fraud and based on information obtained from the bank, the victim may apply for an injunction from the court to freeze the recipients’ bank accounts and if the victim is lucky enough, there will be some credit balance left to recover ...
Key Points New proposal would allow investment advisors to provide advice to ERISA retirement plan participants for a fee, despite potential conflicts of interest. Reinstates five-part test from 1975 for determining when an investment advisor provides investment advice as a fiduciary to a plan participant. The U.S ...
As workplaces continue to reopen, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued additional guidance addressing various return to work issues and leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The new DOL guidance, summarized below, appears on the DOL’s FFCRA Questions and Answers page ...
The Federal Reserve has announced that the Main Street Lending Program will now be available to non-profits such as educational institutions, hospitals, and social service organizations, and has issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions regarding the new Nonprofit Organization New Loan Facility and Nonprofit Organization Expanded Loan Facility ...
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, local municipalities and state governments throughout the country have implemented stay-at-home orders and mandated closures of businesses and restaurants to lower the spread of the disease. California, after having permitted much of the state to reopen businesses, has seen a recent spike in COVID-19 cases and on July 13th implemented a new statewide order to curb the increase, reimposing certain business closures ...
Unfortunately, financial exploitation is a significant and growing area of concern, particularly with elderly investors or those with diminished capacity. Investment advisers are facing a client base who is increasingly older, and with that comes the increased likelihood of an investment adviser encountering possible financial exploitation ...
Key Points Participants in defined contribution retirement plans, such as 401(k), 401(a), 403(b), or governmental 457(b) plans, can skip their required minimum distribution (RMD) payments for 2020. If RMDs for 2020 have already been received, participants have until August 31, 2020 to rollover the RMD into an eligible retirement plan ...
In the rush to seek relief under force majeure clauses following the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is likely that some claims were made incorrectly, albeit in good faith. Particularly in circumstances where force majeure relief is linked to a purported termination, the party seeking to terminate needs to comply with any contractual requirements and ensure that the event relied upon is capable of being caught by the force majeure clause ...
As we have outlined in Part 1 and Part 2 of our blog series, ‘Returning the Workplace to Safe Operation’, employers have a duty to reduce the risk of COVID-19 in the workplace as much as reasonably practical. Consequently, employers may determine it is appropriate to conduct certain active screening, such as questionnaires, temperature screening, and testing ...
As organisations start planning their post COVID-19 workforce arrangements, leaders need to consider how these new and amended work practices will help or hinder their efforts to strengthen their risk culture. While having a distributed workforce increases some challenges to improving risk culture, it also provides opportunities which need to be embraced. It is becoming increasingly clear that the post COVID-19 workplace will be very different to what it was before the pandemic ...
Companies subject to product liability lawsuits – and their counsel – know the importance of promptly examining whether the company is subject to general personal jurisdiction or specific personal jurisdiction of the forum court. A court with general personal jurisdiction over a defendant can hear any and all claims against that defendant. After the United States Supreme Court’s decisions in Daimler AG v. Bauman, 134 S. Ct 746 (2014) and BSNF Railway Co. v ...
On July 15, 2020, the Kentucky Community Property Trust Act (the “Act”; codified at KRS 386.620 et seq.) became effective, instituting an elective community property regime under Kentucky law. The intent of the Act is to permit spouses to receive a stepped-up basis for federal income tax purposes at the death of the first spouse in 100 percent of the property they have elected to treat as community property ...
Key Points On July 17, 2020, the Federal Reserve announced two new loan options under the Main Street Lending Program to support nonprofit organizations: the Nonprofit Organization New Loan Facility ("NONLF") and the Nonprofit Organization Expanded Loan Facility ("NOELF") ...
In two recent Awards of the Industrial Court involving the retrenchment of 7 Claimants, Mizman Bin Ngadinan & Others v City Facilities Management Sdn Bhd (Award 989 of 2020) and Roslan Bin Mohd Tahir & Others v City Facilities Management Sdn Bhd (Award 990 of 2020), the Industrial Court found that the LIFO principle was inapplicable where the selection criteria and process adopted by the Company involving specialised skills sets and the competency of the employees was upheld ...
While most employers and HR departments still are addressing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") issued new standard forms for handling Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") claims. Specifically, there are new forms for FMLA notice of eligibility, designation notice, and medical certification for employees to use. At first glance, the new forms look quite different than their predecessors, but there are no major changes ...
The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (the "CEWS") Is a key component of the Government of Canada's COVID-19 economic response plan. The purpose of the CEWS, adopted on April 11, 2020, is to help Canadians keep their jobs during the crisis and help companies maintain an employment relationship with their employees in order to recover more quickly when the economy returns to normal ...
In this unprecedented COVID-19 world, employers may need to consider layoffs, furloughs, or even closures to get through to the other side (whenever that comes). If you have done all you can to weather the government-mandated shutdowns and now have to consider letting people go, you are not alone ...
The Limited Partnership Fund Bill which provides for registration of eligible funds as limited partnership funds (LPFs) in Hong Kong passed the third reading at the Legislative Council on 9 July 2020. The Limited Partnership Fund Ordinance (LPFO) will come into operation on 31 August 2020 ...
On 24 June 2020, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published its latest Annual Report, covering the 12-month period to 31 March 2020. As in previous years, the report provides a useful summary of what the SFC has done over the past year particularly in terms of achieving its publicly stated goals and providing insight into its priorities moving forward ...
On 26 June 2020, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a circular publishing in draft new versions of the financial return forms for SFC licensed corporations (LCs). The SFC is planning to revise the existing forms in order to collect additional data from LCs to “enable the SFC to identify risks in a timely manner, take prompt supervisory action and protect investors”. It is expected that the forms will be gazetted without significant amendment ...
On 29 June 2020, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) jointly published an announcement on the launch of the cross-boundary wealth management connect pilot scheme (Wealth Management Connect) in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) (the announcement is available here in English and here in Chinese) ...
On July 20, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed a rule which, if finalized as a rule, would establish a new standard for when a national bank or Federal savings association (“bank”) is the “true lender” in a lending arrangement with a third party. Under the proposed rule, the bank is the lender in a loan transaction if either (1) the bank is the named lender in the loan documents at origination, or (2) the bank funds the loan at origination ...
