Legal Developments and updates from the leading lawyers in each jurisdiction. To contribute, send an email request to
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The separate legal entity
doctrine means that a company can sue in its own name for a wrong done to it.
Where a solvent company is unable to bring an action, its members can apply to
do so. This was set out by the courts in several long standing decisions that
set out the circumstances under which this would be allowed. This is known as
the common law derivative action. In Singapore, the Companies Act was amended
to provide for what has become known as a statutory derivative action where a
private company incorporated in Singapore is involved. However, modern
businesses are organised in groups of companies so that investors are
shareholders in a holding company and businesses are run in wholly-owned
subsidiaries. A deceptively simple question then arises - can a member of a
holding company apply to court to take out a derivative law suit in the name a
subsidiary where the member has no direct shareholding (termed a "double
derivative action")?
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On 8 April 2013, the Indonesian Investment Coordination Board ( BKPM ) issued the new BKPM Regulation
No. 5 of 2013 on the Guidelines and Procedures for Licensing and Non-Licensing
in relation to Capital Investments ( Regulation
5/2013 ), which generally deals with foreign and domestic investments in
public companies and their subsidiaries in Indonesia. Regulation 5/2013 was
promulgated in the State Gazette on 12 April 2013 and took effect on 27 May 2013.
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On 2 November 2012, President Thein Sein signed into law Myanmar’s new Foreign Investment Law (the new FIL), replacing the previous Union of Myanmar Foreign Investment Law of 1988. Pursuant to the new FIL, the Foreign Investment Rules and the Classification of Types of Economic Activities Notification (collectively, the Rules) were published on 31 January 2013. The Rules provide further guidance on the new FIL by expanding upon the rights and duties of foreign investors under the new FIL, as well as clarifying the types of activities for which foreign investment is prohibited or restricted.
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On 10 April 2013, the Competition Appeal Board (CAB) dismissed all but two grounds of appeal by five modelling agencies that had been found by the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) to have engaged in price-fixing activities. CAB's decision resulted in a reduction in the total amount of financial penalties for the five modelling agencies.
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NO IMMEDIATE ACTION IS NECESSARY
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On 28 March 2013, the Competition Commission of Singapore ("CCS") handed down fines totalling S$179,071 on 12 motor vehicle traders for bidrigging at public motor vehicle auctions held by various government agencies
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PREDICATE OFFENCES
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On 26 March 2012, the Monetary Authority of Singapore ("MAS") announced the launch of the Financial Advisory Industry Review ("FAIR"), with the aim of raising standards of practice in the financial advisory ("FA") industry and improving efficiency in the distribution of life insurance and investment products in Singapore. Subsequently, a panel, chaired by MAS and comprising representatives from industry associations, consumer and investor bodies, academia, media, and other stakeholders ("FAIR Panel"), was formed on 2 April 2012 to conduct the review.
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The Computer Misuse Act has been renamed the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act. The name change is only the first sign of the myriad of changes within the body of the Act, with new provisions giving the Government “sweeping powers over cyberspace”. The wording of the law now allows a very broad interpretation of the circumstances in which the Government may exercise such “sweeping powers” to order "measures and requirements... as may be necessary...
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In the case of Shin Khai Construction Pte Ltd v FL Wong Construction Pte Ltd, the Learned Assistant Registrar Jordan Tan AR (“the learned AR”) had to consider the novel question of whether an adjudication determination may be set aside on the ground that the adjudication application was lodged later that the period of entitlement stipulated by s 13(3)(a) of the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (Cap 30B, 2006 Rev Ed) (“the Act”).
