The Legal 500

After years of debate, on 14 June 2012 and in its last days of office, the Legislative Council finally enacted Hong Kong’s first cross- sector competition law.

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")? 

On 12 June 2013, the English Supreme Court handed down a unanimous judgment which discussed the ability of the English Family Division to treat the assets of companies wholly owned by one party to a divorce as available to that party for the purposes of ancillary relief.

M&A bond financing: offshore high yield and convertible bond issuance

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.

A New Governmental Proposal to Significantly Narrow the Tax Benefits for New Immigrants and Returning Residents in Israel

Third party litigation funding will not infringe the laws against champerty and maintenance and will not be contrary to the Code of 1771 - a summary of the Royal Court's judgment in Barclays Wealth Trustees (Jersey) Limited and Barclays Wealth Fund Managers (Jersey) Limited as trustee and manager of the R2R Funds -v- Equity Trust (Jersey) Limited and Equity Trust Services Limited.

Jersey gets ready to comply with the requirements of the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive. 

On 30 May 2013, the European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") announced that it has approved cooperation agreements to be signed by the Guernsey regulator, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission ("GFSC").

The decision analyses whether the Fund's directors were entitled to make an in specie redemption by the transfer of assets acquired by the Fund after the redemption payment date and in circumstances where, on an objective basis, there were doubts as to the value of the assets. 

ESMA approves cooperation arrangements with Guernsey