Our Ms. Lai Lam attended the Interlaw Asia Pacific Regional Conference held in Hanoi, Vietnam between 17 and 20 March 2016.

The theme of this event was ‘Windows for Integration’. The conference provided the participants with an overview of the recent negotiation of The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement which successfully linked 12 economies, representing 40% of global GDP, and brought about a series of bilateral or multilateral Free-Trade Agreements in the Asia Pacific region. Close to 50 delegates from member firms attended this event.

Ms. Lam also attended several talks during the event. Keynote speakers included Dr. Vo Tri Thanh (deputy head of CIEM/Economist), Ms. Dinh Thi Quynh Van (CEO, PwC Vietnam) and Mr. Kevin Doolan from Møller PSF Group also gave his talk on global client development.

Delegates found the meeting informative and look forward to networking at future conferences later in the year in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA and Valletta, Malta, and ending with the AGM in Tokyo, Japan.

Mr Pham Nghiem Xuan Bac, managing partner of Vision & Associates Legal making his opening remarks

From the left: Our Ms Lam (former board member and Vice Chair of Interlaw Asia Pacific Region), Mr Andy Richter (former board member of Interlaw Asia Pacific Region) and Ms Alesia R. Daniels (current Director of Operations, Interlaw)

Traditional Vietnamese Music Performance during Opening Ceremony

Please contact our Ms Lam for any enquiries or further information about this event.

On 16 March 2016, we held a seminar on anti-money laundering (AML) laws in our new office at Gloucester Tower, The Landmark. It was our pleasure to have Mr. Andrew Radcliffe, QC as our speaker. Over 40 lawyers and in-house counsel attended the talk. During the seminar, Mr. Radcliffe, QC shared his experience in and insight into this topic which concerns professionals from different industries in Hong Kong. The talk was well received by the audience, and questions relating to AML in practice and development of AML laws in Commonwealth jurisdictions were raised and discussed in the Q&A session.

 Mr. Radcliffe, QC delivering a talk to lawyers and in-house counsel

Mr. Andrew Radcliffe, QC is a member of 2 Hare Court, Temple, one of London’s leading criminal sets of Chambers. He is a white collar crime specialist, and is ranked by Chambers & Partners in Band 1 for Financial Crime. He has wide experience of all areas of business crime including money laundering, insider dealing, price fixing and misconduct in a public office.

 From right to left: Mr. Andrew Radcliffe, QC, our partners Mr. Willy Cheng and Ms. Lai Lam, and Dr. Robert Hanson

On 12 March 2016, our partner Mr. Eric Lui attended the opening ceremony of AllBright Law Offices (Hefei) and also a conference in Hefei. The conference, titled “Economy and Capital Market”, was jointly hosted by AllBright Law Offices and Anhui Federation of Industry and Commerce. Speakers at the conference spoke on the current issues in relation to securities market and financial asset management business.

At the conference, Mr. Lui gave a talk on “Essential Requirements for Listing of PRC Enterprises in Hong Kong”. The talk was well received and participants engaged in a fruitful discussion with Mr. Lui on the topic.

Please contact our Mr. Eric Lui for any enquiries or further information about this event.

On 1 March 2016, AllBright Law Offices moved into Shanghai Tower which is currently the tallest building in Asia with the fastest lift in the world. On 11 March, we invited representatives from family offices, private banking and trust institutions to visit where Head of Business Development (China) Ms. Connie Yeung delivered a presentation on how to protect assets through the establishment of family trust and its benefits. The talk was well received and attendees found the sharing both interesting and practical.

On 9 March 2016, our partner Ms. Heidi Chui attended the 41st Annual Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (East Asia Branch) held at the Hong Kong Club.

Datuk Professor Sundra Rajoo, the International President of the Institute, was invited as a guest speaker. Professor Sundra Rajoo has numerous appointments as chairman, co-arbitrator and sole arbitrator in international and domestic arbitrations, and serves on the panel of numerous international arbitration institutions and organisations.

From left to right: Professor Sundra Rajoo, Ms. Mary Thompson, committee member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (East Asia Branch), Mr. Richard Leung, Chairperson of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (East Asia Branch), and Ms. Chui

Over 200 members of the Institute from around the world attended the Annual Dinner to network and socialise, and seized the opportunity to share their views on how to improve the services of the Institute.

Ms. Chui with Mr. Albert Monichino, QC, President of the Australia Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

Ms. Chui is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She heads our litigation and dispute resolution department, and is experienced in international and domestic arbitration, commercial litigation and dispute resolution.

In Re G Ltd [2016] 1 HKLRD 167, the court sets out the powers a Hong Kong court possesses to recognise and assist foreign liquidators.

The Petitioner (“P”) sought to wind up G, a Cayman Islands company listed in Hong Kong on the grounds of insolvency. Meanwhile P sought for an early hearing of an application to appoint provisional liquidators. At the hearing on 2 October 2015, it emerged that G had issued a petition for its own winding up in the Cayman Islands and that an application to appoint provisional liquidators was to be heard on 8 October 2015. It was held that since there was no pressing need to appoint provisional liquidators immediately in Hong Kong, the judge adjourned P’s application pending the outcome of the Cayman Islands Court. On 8 October 2015, G’s application was unopposed and the Cayman Islands Court appointed KPMG in both the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong as provisional liquidators.

The court, in dismissing P’s application, stated that a company’s place of incorporation is presumably the most appropriate jurisdiction to petition of a winding-up order. However, any unregistered company may, in the court’s discretion, be wound up pursuant to section 327(3) of the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 32), if (a) the company is dissolved, or has ceased to carry on business, or is carrying on business only for the purpose of winding up its affairs; (b) the company is unable to pay its debts; (c) if the court is of opinion that it is just and equitable that the company should be wound up.

The court also emphsised that, at common law, it is empowered to assist overseas liquidators of insolvent companies wound up in their places of incorporation with similar insolvency regimes by giving them substantially similar powers to those which domestic liquidators would have. If the foreign liquidators considered it necessary to seek recognition and assistance from the Hong Kong court, the most straightforward way would be to obtain a letter of request from the local court, and then to apply ex parte on paper for a recognition order.

In addition, if the liquidators thought it desirable to wind up the foreign company in Hong Kong and that they could satisfy the criteria for assessing such petitions, they could apply for a winding-up order, and if required, apply to be appointed as provisional liquidators in Hong Kong pending the determination of the petition.