Licensing of Private Equity Sponsors: A New Hong Kong Approach?

On January 7, 2020, the Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) issued its “Circular to private equity firms seeking to be licensed” (“PE Circular”) setting out its view on the licensing obligations of private equity firms. The PE Circular suggests that a number of activities frequently undertaken by private equity firms may trigger licensing obligations. As a result, private equity firms operating in Hong Kong without a license...

Heightened Regulation of the Stock Market: What Directors of Listed Companies Need to...

The Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (“SEHK”) both shifted their enforcement strategies and priorities after the conclusion of their joint consultation in 2017 in relation to the regulation of listed companies. The SEHK has stepped up the number of investigations it conducts and the number of resulting sanctions has risen accordingly. At the same time, the SFC has adopted a more...

Enhanced Suitability Requirements for the Sale of Complex Products: A Pullback?

New enhanced suitability requirements applicable to the sale of complex products will come into force on July, 6 2019. Though heavy-handed and paternalistic on their face, recent guidance issued by the Securities and Futures Commission appears to soften the impact of these requirements. In this article, we discuss the major changes.

Hong Kong Judicial Assistance to Foreign liquidators: Ripe for Appeal?

Though Hong Kong has yet to enact legislation to deal with cross-border insolvency, the Court of First Instance has taken the pragmatic position that it has the jurisdiction to assist liquidators appointed under a winding-up in a foreign jurisdiction by making orders to recognize those liquidators in Hong Kong and to require persons in Hong Kong to produce documents to those liquidators, to submit to examinations by those liquidators and to stay...

Opening Bank Accounts: Duties of Banks in Hong Kong to Combat Tax Evasion

Hong Kong money laundering laws require banks to assess the risk of tax evasion in evaluating bank account opening applications. Prospective customers applying to open bank accounts must exercise sensitivity in understanding how their overall profile looks objectively from a tax evasion perspective to a bank and must exercise care in managing the presentation of their profile.