The Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 (the “Amendment Ordinance”) introduces, amongst other things, major relaxations to the prospectus regime in Hong Kong to facilitate market development. This bulletin summarises some of these changes brought by the Amendment Ordinance (The changes regarding prospectuses brought by the Amendment Ordinance as summarised in this bulletin came into operation on 3 December, 2004) ...
The SFC has recently settled a number of disciplinary cases on the basis of payment by the persons under investigations without admission of liabilities. Below are some examples of the settlement cases. SFC Withdrew Decision to Suspend Licence of a Licensed Representative The licence of a licensed representative was suspended by the SFC for six months by reason of his use of placing schemes to meet the placing requirements of the Listing Rules ...
On 30 June 2005, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”) finalised the self-assessment framework on AML compliance. The self-assessment framework has been introduced for the purposes of facilitating the assessment by authorised institutions’ (“AIs”) of their compliance with the regulatory requirements on AML and to supplement the HKMA’s on-site examinations ...
On 30 June 2005, the House of Lords delivered its judgment in National Westminster Bank plc v. Spectrum Plus Limited & others [2005] UKHL 41. The case has resolved a controversial legal issue concerning the distinction between a fixed charge and a floating charge. Fixed Charges and Floating Charges It may be helpful first to describe the basic difference between the operation of a fixed charge and that of a floating charge ...
The SFC has adopted a split approach in dealing with UCITS III funds. For funds which will adopt enhanced use of derivatives and make changes to their investment policies or objectives in migrating to UCITS III, the SFC requires: • a notice to existing holders explaining the proposed changes and confirmation from the fund or its manager that the home regulator has approved the final version of this notice ...
Under Part XV of the Securities & Futures Ordinance (SFO), where a company has an interest (or a short position) in Hong Kong listed shares, its holding company is deemed to have that interest; this attribution is carried the whole way up a corporate chain to the ultimate holding company. This imposes onerous monitoring requirements on financial services groups ...
This English law decision not only serves as a timely reminder of a bank’s duty of confidentiality to its clients but is potentially worrying as the case confirms loss of opportunity to earn future profits as a recoverable head of damage following breach of confidence. Jackson v Royal Bank of Scotland (2005) UKHL3, [2005] A ER(d)280 Facts: Jackson (trading under the name Sampson Lancastrian (Sampson)) had entered into a contract to supply dog chews to another UK entity, Economy Bag ...
Concord Trust v Law Debenture (http://www.lawdeb.com/). Law Debenture House of Lords considered the obligations and liabilities of bond issue trustees in relation to notices of acceleration ...
Do environmental considerations feature in your business plans? If not, then perhaps it is time they did. Minimising waste, reducing energy consumption and decreasing the environmental impact is not just good for the planet but can lead to increased profits. That is the message from the Scottish Executive in its paper 'Going for green growth: a green jobs strategy for Scotland' ...
Armando Aznar J. of the Court of Québec recently rendered a harsh judgment against an insurance company.1 Although the amounts at stake were minimal, the decision may have a significant impact on insurers. This is one of the rare judgments where an insurer was ordered to pay exemplary and moral damages for having made allegations in the pleadings based on unjustified suspicions resulting in damages to the integrity and honesty of its insured ...
On May 10, 2005, the Court of Appeal held in Pierre Roy & Associés Inc. v. Bagnoud [2005] QCCA 492, that sums transferred by Ms. Bagnoud to Investors Services Ltd. (“Investors”) were a trust according to the agreements entered into between Ms. Bagnoud and Investors. This decision is one of the first interpretations by the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court decision in Bank of Nova Scotia v. Thibault.1 Facts In July 1998, after her employment was terminated, Ms ...
On April 13, 2005, the government of Canada announced the first phase of Project Green “Moving Forward on Climate Change: A Plan for Honouring our Kyoto Commitment”. Although there is no legislation in force in Canada which requires companies to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, emitting companies should begin preparing for this possibility. In some cases, they should even look at the advantages of immediately trading emission reduction credits ...
The coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol on February 16, 2005 has generated intense discussion and left many unanswered questions for the industrial sector. Over the last two months, the federal government has published several documents that, to a certain extent, uncover its intentions regarding its stated objectives and its strategies for achieving such objectives ...
The article appeared in the 2005 edition of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Environment Law; published and reproduced with kind permission of Global Legal Group Ltd, London ...
After long years of fierce debate, the Kyoto Protocol finally came into force on 16 February 2005, imposing obligations on states parties to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. This article takes a look at the background to the Protocol, and the many new and varied opportunities for businesses in Scotland and across the globe. The Protocol itself was adopted at the Third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto on 11 December 1997 ...
The year 2004 saw increased M&A activity in the Ukrainian banking sector. Some of the notable acquisitions include equity transfers in Kredit Bank (to PKO Bank Polski S.A.), Transbank (to Bank TuranAlem of Kazakhstan),Bank Leader (to Renaissance Capital of Russia), and, of course, the benchmark deal of the year — acquisitionby Vilniaus Bankas, a Lithuanian subsidiary of the powerful SEB Group of Sweden, of the Joint Stock Bank Agio ...
On February 8, 2005, the Court of Appeal issued two judgments1 that clarify the burden of proof of the parties with respect to the nullity of an insurance contract. These two judgments are all the more interesting given that they deal with the issue of the impact of criminal history on the moral risk that the insured or the prospective insured poses for an insurer. The Rouette judgment, written by Mr ...
The Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") have just released their consultation paper ("Paper") on the review of the disclosure of interests regime under Part XV of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) ("Part XV"). The Paper contains the SFC's proposals for changes to the law on disclosure of interests in shares. Most of the provisions of the Securities and Futures Ordinance was gazetted on 28 March 2002 and came into effect (including Part XV) on 1 April 2003 ...
Despite rumours from Westminster that the Pensions Bill was to be dropped to make room for the anti-fox hunting Bill, it looks certain that the Pensions Bill will finally receive Royal Assent in November. In its final form, the Bill now extends to over 350 pages. Those looking for simplification will be disappointed to say the least ...
Introduction Patented inventions are a large source of revenue in the pharmaceutical industry. Ireland's tax exemption in respect of certain patent royalties, has been one of the driving factors behind investment by pharmaceutical multinationals, principally from the US, in the Irish economy. Irish tax legislation provides an exemption from tax for income derived from "qualifying patents" when received by a person resident in Ireland and not resident in any other country ...
Year-end deadline for application to the HKMA to adopt the basic approach and internal rating based approach for credit risk calculation The Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") issued a circular ("the Circular") to all Hong Kong incorporated authorised institutions ("AIs") on 7 December 2004, requesting formal applications from AIs that plan to adopt the internal rating based ("IRB") or the basic approach ("Basic Approach") for the assessment of their capital adequacy ...
On May 14, 2004, the Superior Court rendered judgment in Landry vs. L’Union Vie, Compagnie mutuelle d’assurance1 and allowed the action of the Plaintiff, Ms. Lucie Landry, in which she claimed $50,000 in insurance proceeds following the death of her brother on October 26, 2000, pursuant to a life insurance policy issued by Union Life on July 28, 2000. The case is currently under appeal. The Facts On July 28, 2000, Union Life Mutual Assurance Co ...
Practically everyday new companies in Ukraine are entering international financial markets through attraction of loans from international financial institutions (IFI), placement of Eurobonds, etc. Some of them would certainly soon start thinking of Initial Public Offerings (IPO) and similar instruments. In this overview the author tries to shed light on some very important but rather hidden prerequisites for success in doing so ...
Modernizing Texas’ Foreign Legal Consultant Rule By Larry B. Pascal Introduction Texas law firms depend on cross-border work for a growing percentage of their revenue. Numerous Texas-based law firms have opened offices outside of the US including offices in Mexico, Europe, Russia and the surrounding Eurasian states, the Middle East, and Asia ...
In The Euromoney Global Insurance Handbook 2004, Delphi & Co worked on the Swedish Ministry of Justice’s bill for a new Insurance Contract Act, which was heavily criticised in Sweden at the time. On May 19, 2004, after more than 10 years of processing, the Swedish Government presented a slightly modified bill for the Swedish Parliament (“the Bill”) ...
