Asialaw - Clarity for Corporate Counsel

• Hong Kong liability cap could save capital markets

  Hong Kong’s accounting community will push for a cap on the liability of accountants in corporate failures

  2009.01.07

• Malaysia-India labour agreement to punish agencies

  Malaysia and India have signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding. It's aim is to prevent employers and recruitment agencies from skirting existing labour laws and protections.

  2009.01.07

• Singapore Exchange slashes rights issue exposure

  The Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) will shorten the period of rights issue exposure for listing firms, giving much needed stability for capital raising companies in the city state

  2009.01.07

• Sebi lapses on insider trading regulations

  Amendments to India’s ‘Prohibition of Insider Trading Regulations’ may prove ineffective as a result of poor regulatory drafting, it has emerged

  2009.01.06

• US firm advises Chinese media joint venture

  Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison has advised MIH China (Mauritius) in closing an equity investment to form a joint venture with a Chinese print media company.

  2009.01.05

COMPETITION & ANTITRUST [go to archive]

• Anti-monopoly law omission hinders Hong Kong competition

  The lack of a merger review system would be a gaping hole in Hong Kong's anti-monopoly regime

  2008.12.17

• Concerns persist over India’s competition regime

  Recently promulgated regulations to India’s competition legislation have left practitioners concerned that economic growth might be hindered

  2008.12.17

• China Anti-Monopoly test cases disappoint

  As China’s new Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) has passed its first 100 days, uncertainties regarding the statute lingered over both its implementation and Ministry of Finance (Mofcom’s) treatment of filing companies

  2008.12.17

M&A [go to archive]

• Singapore M&A's uncertain dawn

  The effect of financial assistance on leveraged buyouts in Singapore

  2008.12.17

• Recent decision of the Securities Industry Council

  The Singapore Code on Takeovers and Mergers (Code) is administered and enforced by the Securities Industry Council (SIC). The Code was issued pursuant to section 321 of the Securities Futures Act (SFA) and delineates compliance procedures and protocols for relevant parties in a takeover situation

  2008.12.17

RISK & COMPLIANCE [go to archive]

• China corporate counsel get risk savvy

  In the November issue of Asialaw, Beijing-based Hongqiang (Lawrence) Liu described his contribution as chief representative in making the Chinese chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) the fastest growing chapter in the world

  2008.12.17

CORPORATE FINANCE [go to archive]

• Disclosure fears surround Japan’s new exchange

  Japan’s new listing exchange is in danger of attracting companies with poor disclosure and corporate governance standards, in a bid to lure non-Japanese listings

  2008.12.17

• Malaysia attracts more Islamic fund players

  Four more Islamic fund licenses have been granted to foreign financial institutions, offering corporations new avenues for capital raising in Malaysia

  2008.12.17

• Indonesian regulator admits takeover mistakes

  The Indonesian regulator’s changes to its takeover law in June were ill conceived

  2008.12.17

• Whitewash waivers needed in Hong Kong

  The whitewash waiver is back – and will offer acquirers an easier route when taking over companies in the current volatile market

  2008.12.17

• Law firm interest in Chinese corruption probe

  At least two unidentified US law firms and one Chinese law firm have found themselves caught up in a recent anti-corruption purge in China

  2008.12.17

• Asian bond buybacks return

  Bond buybacks have re-emerged in Asia, although high disclosure requirements mean liquid companies in Hong Kong may be reluctant to attempt such reverse book-builds in public for now

  2008.12.17

LABOUR & EMPLOYMENT LAW [go to archive]

• Employment termination in Indonesia

  Indonesia’s Industrial Relations Court (IRC) was established in 2004. It replaced the Regional/Central Committee for the Settlement of Labor Disputes (P4D/P4P)

  2008.12.17

• Part-time but not second-rate

  Amendments to Japan’s Part-Time Work Law mean companies will have to re-consider their treatment of employees. By Phil Taylor, deputy editor

  2008.11.05

• India to gain from surge

  Ever since the 1990s, India has led the way in enabling global businesses to slash their overheads by taking advantage of the country’s more competitive labour costs

  2008.12.17

• The race is on in Hong Kong

  Hong Kong’s Race Discrimination Ordinance will take effect early in 2009, bringing with it issues for employers including the prospect of vicarious liability

  2008.11.05

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY [go to archive]

• The merger doctrine in copyright law

  Copyright law only protects expressions, not ideas; with originality as the field’s sine-qua-non, copyright protection extends only to those works that are original to the author – the author’s expression of an underlying idea is copyrightable

  2008.12.17

• New Zealand’s intellectual property legislation gets overhauled

  After a prolonged review period, New Zealand has seen a flurry of IP legislation-related activity in the run up to recent national elections

  2008.12.17

• Implications of Aristocrat v. IGT for Software Patents

  The law governing US software patents sometimes shifts like the ground here in California – a point illustrated by the recent decision of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in Aristocrat Technologies Australia PTY Ltd. v. International Game Technology)

  2008.12.17

• IP forum discusses infringement in China

  “Trade mark holders in China will get better protection in the future, with better enforcement and higher damages,” according to Thomas Pattloch, IP Officer in the EU Delegation in Beijing.

  2008.12.17