Hong Kong has in recent times seen an increasing use of remote on-boarding of customers by banks as a result of COVID-19. Banks are generally required to pay more attention to the remote on-boarding assessment of corporate customers as opposed to individual ones due to the higher money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with corporate vehicles ...
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a circular on 21 December 2004 to deemed licensed corporations. Deemed licensed corporations which do not intend to migrate to the new regime under the SFO are expected to wind down their businesses and make arrangements for the return and transfer of client assets before their licences expire on 31 March 2005. The circular also sets out guidance on the treatment of unclaimed client assets ...
The second consultation on exemption of offshore funds from profits tax ended on 31 January 2005. Section 20A of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (IRO) provides that where a person is a non-resident and carries on business through an agent in Hong Kong, that non-resident can be charged to tax in the name of the agent and that tax can be recovered from the agent. However, section 20AA provides for an exemption whereby qualifying agents (i.e ...
Disclosure of Interests Recently, the SFC has successfully prosecuted a number of breaches of the duty to disclose securities interests, among which the most widely reported in the news was that of the prosecution of Mr. William Mong Man-wai. Mr. Mong was charged with failure to declare his interest in nearly 3 million shares of Bank of East Asia in contravention of section 28(1)(b) of the Securities (Disclosure of Interests) Ordinance. Mr ...
Based on the statistics prepared by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), as of early November 2004, there are approximately 280 SFC authorised guaranteed funds. This number has continued to grow throughout 2004. Background The early guaranteed funds introduced to the Hong Kong market in late 1999 offered simple investment strategies securing a capital guarantee with a potential up-side linked to the performance of underlying assets ...
In November 2004, the Securites and Futures Commission (SFC) published its Consultation Conclusions and Guidelines on Good Disclosure of Securities Services and Related Fees and Charges (Guidelines). The Guidelines, which came into effect on 1 January 2005, supplement the existing Code of Conduct ...
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) proposes to amend Chapter 8.7 of the Code of Unit Trusts and Mutual Funds (Code). To date, a total of 13 hedge funds have been authorised by the SFC pursuant to the existing hedge fund guidelines. The SFC has indicated that some applications for authorisation have failed because of the failure of the applicant hedge fund manager to comply with the experience requirements. The revised Chapter 8 ...
Proposed guidelines have been formulated to prevent analysts’ trading activities or financial interests from prejudicing their investment research and recommendations. The guidelines are scheduled to come into effect on 1 April 2005 and are to form part of the Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or Registered with the SFC. The guidelines cover only shares, stock warrants or stock options listed in Hong Kong or investment research that has an influence on such securities ...
Following the SFC’s consultation paper in February 2005 proposing to allow SFC authorised collective investment schemes to invest in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), the Code was amended in late April. Chapter 7.14 of the Code has been revised to allow SFC authorised collective investment schemes to invest in listed REITs, subject to compliance with the investment limits as set out in Chapters 7.1 and 7.2. (i.e. 7 ...
In November 2004 the Hong Kong Securities and Future Commission (SFC) published its Consultation Conclusions on the Regulatory Framework for Addressing Analysts’ Conflicts of Interest and issued guidelines to form part of the Code of Conduct for Persons Licensed by or Registered with the Securities and Futures Commission (Code of Conduct) which are scheduled to come into effect on 1 April 2005 ...
Prior to 4 November 2004, a Hong Kong authorised scheme could invest up to 10% of its total net asset value in other collective investment schemes (CIS) under the Code on Unit Trusts and Mutual Funds (Code), but it could not invest in any type of real estate or interests in real estate (except shares in real estate companies) ...
In order to reduce the risks imposed on investors and the market by the excessive re-pledging and imprudent lending of securities margin financing (SMF) providers, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued a Consultation Paper on the Proposed Measures to Address Risks Arising from Securities Margin Financing ...
The simplest way of achieving your objective might be to consider the introduction of a share option scheme – this would enable your company to grant its employees rights to acquire shares at a pre-determined point in the future (i.e. on the occurrence of a flotation), but at a price which is fixed when the options are awarded ...
As early as September 23, 2019, the United States House of Representatives is expected to vote on the widely anticipated Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act ...
2020 was already expected to be a challenging year for the retail industry and the worldwide pandemic only intensified the underlying troubles. Heading into the year, one estimate projected that 12,000 major chain stores would close in 2020. Today, a number of high-profile brands are in bankruptcy and tenants and landlords alike are struggling to recover from COVID-19 related closures ...
Early last year the Prime Minister dropped the “E-bomb” on British motorists, announcing a ban on cars powered wholly by petrol and diesel from 2030, and on the sale of new hybrid vehicles with the capability to drive a significant distance with zero emissions (such as plug-in or full hybrids) from 2035. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world in an unprecedented manner ...
This article is intended to provide some solutions on how to reduce the amount of parallel imports of your products into Ireland without breaching European law. Parallel trade of products occurs within the European Union (EU) as EU legislation provides for the free movement of goods within the EU. This rule frequently results in products being imported from cheaper countries within the EU (for example Greece) to more expensive countries within the EU (for example Ireland) ...
Where is my order? I’m sure most of us have asked this question many times and probably more so recently as the recent postal strikes have left customers waiting for delayed Christmas gifts to arrive. The postal strikes have undoubtedly had a huge impact on businesses in the lead up to Christmas, especially given the dramatic increase in online sales, costing businesses money and time in navigating through customer queries, complaints and providing solutions ...
Hunton & Williams is pleased to announce the release of its newly designed and mobile-responsive Immigration and Nationality Law Blog, www.huntonimmigrationlawblog.com. “Our immigration law blog has been a valuable resource for US employers,” said Ian Band, who heads the firm’s immigration and nationality practice ...
The Retail Industry team would like to provide you with an update on legal developments in the retail and consumer products industries as posted on the Hunton Retail Law Resource blog. If you wish to receive email alerts when new posts are published, please visit our blog and enter your email address in the subscribe field ...
The Retail Industry team would like to provide you with an update on legal developments in the retail and consumer products industries as posted on the Hunton Retail Law Resource blog. If you wish to receive email alerts when new posts are published, please visit our blog and enter your email address in the subscribe field ...
The Retail Industry team would like to provide you with an update on legal developments in the retail and consumer products industries as posted on the Hunton Retail Law Resource blog. If you wish to receive email alerts when new posts are published, please visit our blog and enter your email address in the subscribe field ...
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, franchisors should take action to avoid potential liability for price gouging committed by franchisees in affected areas. Price gouging occurs when a seller increases prices of goods, services or commodities to a level that is exploitive and unethical. Texas law explicitly prohibits price gouging following a natural disaster, and fines for price gouging can be up to $20,000 per violation ...
