The Legal 500

In December 2007, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) imposed a fine of £1.26m on Norwich Union Life (part of the Aviva Group), one of the largest life insurance businesses in the UK with around seven million customers. The fine related to failures to take reasonable care to establish and maintain effective systems and controls for countering the risks of financial crime. The fine is the latest confirmation of the emphasis being placed on protecting clients and customers from the threat of financial crime.

A trade mark which is entitled to protection under the Paris Convention as a well-known trade mark can be protected under the Trade Marks Ordinance in Hong Kong.

Section 11(5)(b) of the Trade Marks Ordinance provides that a trade mark shall not be registered if the application for registration of it is made in bad faith. Recently, there are two decided trade mark cases where each of the Opponents has established a case of bad faith successfully.

The Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (“MOFCOM”) passed the Provisional Measures on the Investigation and Handling of Concentrations between Business Operators which were Not Notified in accordance with the Law (the “Provisional Measures”) on 30 December 2011, and uploaded them on its website on 5 January 2012.

will it emerge (relatively) unscathed or is its very survival threatened?

Article by Timothy Loh and Sherry Xiao

Are the Courts sealing the fate of struggling hedge funds too early or should they be given further time to recover and realize their potential for investors? 

New provisions: "Prior Art" refers to an art publicly known within and outside the country before the filing date; while Prior Design refers to a design publicly known within and outside the country before the filing date. Prior Art include arts that are being publicly disclosed in publications worldwide, publicly used or made known to public in the country in any other manner before the filing date (or priority date, in case a priority is claimed)

The long-awaited Securities and Investment Business Bill, 2010 (commonly referred to as “SIBA”) received its first reading by the BVI House of Assembly on 18 March 2010. This follows public consultation in Summer 2009.

The United States’ Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has recognised the liquidation of a Cayman company, Saad Investments Finance Company (No5) Limited (“SIFCO5”) (an SPV established to operate as an investment company), as a “foreign main proceeding” under Chapter 15 of the United States’ Bankruptcy Code.

As the British Virgin Islands continues to play a vital role in facilitating global trade and investment, it turns its attention to helping its more than 60,000 new companies per year build a business environment where innovation can be a key economic driver. Towards this end, the BVI Financial Services Commission (the “FSC”), which is the public body with responsibility for, among other things, administering the intellectual property laws of the BVI, announced on 5 January 2010 the establishment of a Focus Group to review and revise the existing IP laws