Side letters are a common phenomenon encountered by hedge fund managers today. These letters are often used to secure better fees for key investors and to give preferential or improved access to information about underlying investments and liquidity. They also provide what are commonly referred to as most favoured nation provisions, meaning that if the fund offers better terms to another investor, the early-stage investors will also be able to take those new or better terms ...
In September 2006, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) released the Consultation Conclusions on the draft guidelines on marketing materials for listed structured products (Guidelines). The Guidelines, to be published under section 399 of the SFO, will replace the current guidelines, which take the form of a letter to warrant issuers. The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong will continue to require compliance with the revised Guidelines as a condition to the listing of structured products ...
On 11 July 2006, six Chinese ministries (Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Commerce, National Development and Reform Commission, The People’s Bank of China, State Administration for Industry and Commerce and State Administration of Foreign Exchange) jointly issued a circular “Opinions on Regulating the Entry into and the Administration of Foreign Investment in the Real Estate Market” Jianzhufang [2006] Circular No ...
On 24 August 2006, the China Securities Regulatory Commission ("CSRC"), People's Bank of China ("PBOC") and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange ("SAFE") jointly issued new regulations, the "Measures for the Administration of Investment in Domestic Securities by Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors" (the "New QFII Rules") that govern the regime allowing qualifying foreign institutions approved by the CSRC as Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors ("QFIIs") to invest in China A sh
Before 1978, China's economic policies were mainly aimed at self-reliance. As a result, the country was virtually shut off from world economic developments. In 1978, China opened its doors to foreign investment with the goal of modernising its economy and raising the living standard of its people. The country has since established the necessary legislative basis for foreign investment and has actively sought to acquire modern foreign management and technical skills ...
Following the amendments to the Inland Revenue Ordinance earlier this year, the Inland Revenue Department ("IRD") issued its Departmental Interpretation and Practice Notes ("DIPN") No. 43 on 6 September 2006. Whilst the Inland Revenue Ordinance ("IRO") laid down the legal foundation in respect of the Hong Kong profits tax exemption for unauthorised funds, DIPN 43 provides some practical guidance on the application of the exemption ...
The recently introduced Pension Protection Act 2006 makes two important changes to the definition of the term "plan assets" for the purposes of ERISA. The new legislation continues to provide that the assets of a fund or other entity will not constitute "plan assets" and will therefore not be subject to the fiduciary obligations under ERISA if less than 25% of the value of each class of equity in the entity is held by "benefit plan investors" ...
In the recent Feedback Statement (FS06/2) from the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) to its Discussion Paper entitled "Hedge funds: A discussion of risk and regulatory engagement", the FSA identified the use of side letters as an area of concern where a market failure may be present, thus potentially requiring regulatory intervention by the FSA ...
By January 2007 all EU members are supposed to adopt MiFID, including its implementation measures published in June 2006. Firms carrying out investment services will then have to comply with it by November 2007. MiFID should greatly facilitate EU cross-border activities since passported firms will no longer be subject to prudential regulation in each country where they provide services but only by their home country ...
The SFC has recently published a guide to the information required to be submitted to the SFC in relation to risk management and control processes by fund managers seeking approval to use the expanded investment powers under UCITS III (Guide). The Guide sets out the items and areas relating to the risk management and control process that the SFC normally expects to be provided in order to give the SFC an understanding of the risk management processes of the relevant UCITS III funds ...
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress made public China's draft law on "The PRC Labour Contract Law" on 20 March 2006, with a view to collecting opinions thereon from relevant departments and the public, for further amendments to be made to this draft law. The PRC Labour Contract Law is intended to be promulgated pursuant to the PRC Labour Law, and sets out to clarify certain ambiguities to give employees better protection ...
In order for an employee to be entitled to the statutory benefits endowed under the Employment Ordinance (the "EO"), in most of the situations, he has to be under a continuous employment with their employer for a certain minimum period. As a result, what constitutes a continuous employment and what breaks its continuity are important to both employers and employees. In a recent Court of Appeal case, Lui Lim Ka & others v ...
On 1 March 2004, the Provisional Administrative Rules Governing Derivative Activities of Financial Institutions were implemented by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (the "CBRC") and constituted the first set of substantive regulations governing the derivatives business in China ...
The People's Bank of China, the Chinese central bank, recently announced principle policies for the financial services sector on outbound investments in overseas markets by Chinese nationals and corporations. These policies are generally regarded as the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors (QDII) program in the market ...
Shareholders with a substantial interest in a listed company are required to disclose their shareholdings in order to improve market transparency, prevent insider trading, and facilitate informed investment decisions. In most countries in Asia, initial disclosure is required once a shareholder acquires an interest in 5% of a listed company’s voting shares. In Taiwan and Sri Lanka it is 10% ...
On 14 July 2006, the Hong Kong and Mainland China Governments signed a ground-breaking agreement, rather lengthily entitled "An Arrangement on Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region pursuant to Choice of Court Agreements between Parties Concerned" (Arrangement), under which they agreed to recognise and enforce judgments made in each others courts ...
Every day in Mumbai, India, a team of 5,000 couriers deliver, collect and return 200,000 lunch boxes. This massive logistics operation is undertaken with an error rate of less than 1 in 8 million deliveries and without using any information technology. Enormous labour cost disparities enable this manual operation to be undertaken cost-effectively ...
WHAT IS CEPA? The Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (“CEPA”) is a free trade agreement between Mainland China and Hong Kong that offers Hong Kong products, companies and residents preferential access to the Mainland market. Many of the preferences go beyond China’s WTO concessions. CEPA is not a closed agreement and both sides hold regular meetings on further concessions and the details for implementation ...
The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”), the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the State Administration of Taxation, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly promulgated the Measures for the Administration of Strategic Investment of Foreign Investors in Listed Companies on 31 December 2005 ...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the Philippine Central Bank) recently issued Circular No. 518, s. 2006, which authorizes banks to enter into joint venture agreements (JVA) with real estate development companies for the development of properties acquired by banks in settlement of loans and other advances, either through foreclosure or dacion en pago (ROPAs) ...
