We are delighted to announce that Stevenson, Wong & Co. has recently been shortlisted by China Law & Practice for “Hong Kong Firm of the Year” at their annual awards.

The award ceremony will be held on 14 September in Beijing and hosted by China Law & Practice, The American Lawyer, The Asian Lawyer and Legal Week. The award ceremony will celebrate the achievement of top lawyers, law firms, and in-house teams in the PRC over the past year.

About China Law & Practice
China Law & Practice is the most respected legal and risk management resource for investors in the PRC provides in-depth analyses and comprehensive translations of the latest laws.

Please contact Mr. Eric Lui for any enquiries or further information.

Stevenson, Wong & Co (SW) is delighted to be shortlisted for 10 awards in the prestigious Asian Legal Business (ALB) Hong Kong Law Awards 2017.

SW is nominated for the following awards:

• Civil Litigation Law Firm of the Year
• Criminal Litigation Law Firm of the Year
• Deal Firm of the Year
• Insolvency and Restructuring Law Firm of the Year
• International Arbitration Law Firm of the Year
• BDO Award Matrimonial and Family Law Firm of the Year
• Real Estate Law Firm of the Year

For the recognition of individuals, our partner Ms. Heidi Chui is nominated as the “Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year” and “Woman Lawyer of the Year (Law Firm)”, while our partner Mr. Rodney Teoh receives the nomination of “Young Lawyer of the Year”.

The awards recognise the excellence and outstanding achievements of Hong Kong’s leading firms, legal practitioners and in-house teams over the past twelve months.

About ALB
Asian Legal Business (ALB) is owned by Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals.

Please contact Mr. Eric Lui for any enquiries or further information.

Head of Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department Ms. Heidi Chui has been admitted to the newly formed Panel of Arbitrators of the Law Society of Hong Kong.

Head of Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department Ms. Heidi Chui has been admitted to the newly formed Panel of Arbitrators of the Law Society of Hong Kong.

The panel serves as the sole database for promotion of solicitor-arbitrators’ services in Hong Kong and overseas jurisdictions and is comprised of exclusively of experienced solicitors who have demonstrated knowledge and skills in arbitration and who meet the stringent requirements of an admissions sub-committee.
Solicitors must fulfil stringent requirements to join the Law Society’s new Panel of Arbitrators.

“This is an exciting time for arbitration in Hong Kong and Asia, with all the activities in the traditional seats, but with increased number of other seats starting to enter the profile internationally and engage in the international arbitration forum,” said Ms Chui.

“The availability of third party funding for arbitration cases in Hong Kong would increase the parties’ options for bringing the case to arbitration. We will see an increased number of meritorious claims being brought. It will enhance the legal activity in Hong Kong and strengthen Hong Kong’s position as an international arbitration centre.”

Ms Heidi Chui is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (U.K.) and an Accredited General Mediator with both the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and the Law Society of Hong Kong. She is also a member of the Arbitration Committee of The Law Society of Hong Kong.

She is a frequent speaker at arbitration events, including but not limited to Cross Strait Four Regions Young Lawyers Forum and the Belt and Road Summit organised by the Law Society of Hong Kong, seminars at Shanghai Arbitration Commission and Ningbo Arbitration Commission.

Introduction

An underweight of New Economy companies in the Hong Kong capital market has prompted the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (“HKEX”) to publish a New Board Concept Paper (《創新板框架諮詢文件》) prospecting the creation of a stand-alone New Board. This aims to broaden Hong Kong’s capital market diversity and enable companies with non-standard corporate governance structures to list, in hope that it will vitalise Hong Kong’s global listing appeal and competitiveness.

The New Board Concept Paper

The New Board Concept Paper proposes a New Board divided into two segments:

• the New Board PREMIUM (創新主板) focuses on companies that are already meeting the Main Board’s listing requirements, but are currently ineligible to list domestically due to their non-standard governance structures, such as certain companies’ weight voting rights (“WVR”) or dual-share characteristics; and
• the New Board PRO (創新初板) is specifically tailored for professional investors with New Economy companies which are unable to meet the financial or track record requirements of the Main Board and GEM, commonly among start-ups and technology firms.

The below table summarises the key proposals of the New Board Concept Paper:

Consultation Paper on Review of GEM and changes to GEM and Main Board Listing Rules

In light of the proposed framework, a Consultation Paper on Review of the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) and Changes to the GEM and Main Board Listing Rules (《有關檢討創業板及修訂《創業板規則》及《主板規則》的諮詢文件》) was issued simultaneously to help readjust the current Hong Kong listing regime.

The Main Board will be positioned as a “premier” board, having its minimum market capitalisation requirement raised from HK$200 million to HK$500 million, and a minimum public float value from HK$50 million to HK$125 million.  The Main Board will retain its existing financial and track record criteria.

The GEM will also acquire an increased minimum market capitalisation of HK$100 million to HK$150 million, a public float value increased from HK$30 million to HK$45 million, and a minimum cash flow of HK$30 million in two fiscal years from HK$20 million.  A mandatory public offering mechanism of at least 10 % of its total offer size will also be incorporated.  The Exchange also proposes to remove the GEM’s current treatment as a “stepping stone” to the Main Board and streamline the process for any legible transfers.

Implications

With tech groups such as Alibaba Group Holding Limited and Sea Ltd. (a rebrand of Garena) choosing to list in the U.S., HKEX’s New Board proposal can be seen as its desire to open up greater diversity of issuers as well as an incentive for New Economy companies to list in Hong Kong.

However, a New Board will introduce certain difficult regulatory and administrative complications.  The proposed accelerated delisting mechanism may enable a procedural floodgate due to listing and delisting inflation.  HKEX will also have to ensure that there is sufficient investor protection.  It may also lead a possibility of an overall decrease of issuer quality affecting Hong Kong’s market reputation.

On top of that, there is also still a risk of tier ambiguity.  GEM may be made redundant due to its repositioning as a middle-tier board.  Additional attention should be given to each tier’s demographic in the fear of undesirable overlaps.

Despite the challenges, the New Board proposals, with the help of feedback from various stakeholders and market leaders, could represent an opportunity for Hong Kong to capture the future growth from the New Economy and further consolidate Hong Kong’s position as a  leading international financial centre.  The Exchange aims to finalise detailed New Board listing rules in early 2018, and to publish its conclusions on the GEM
review proposals in late 2017.

This newsletter is for information purposes only.  Its content does not constitute legal advice, and should not be treated as such.  Stevenson, Wong & Co. will not be liable to you in respect of any special, indirect or consequential loss or damage.

Please contact our Hank Lo, Eric Lui, Cornelia Chu or Rodney Teoh for any enquiries or further information.

Introduction

In a newest attempt to further open up their capital markets, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (“HKEX”) collaborated with China Foreign Exchange Trade System (“CFETS”) on a joint venture company Bond Connect Company Limited (“BCCL”) to support Bond Connect.

Bond Connect

Bond Connect is a new mutual market access scheme enabling investors from Mainland China and offshore to trade mutually in each other’s bond markets through an infrastructure linkage in Hong Kong. This mimics a structure alike the stock-trading programmes between Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen’s stock exchanges in the past two years. BCCL is 60% owned by CFETS and 40% owned by HKEX.

Initial trading begins Northbound, allowing international investors direct access to the China Interbank Bond Market via the CFETS system. The launch of Southbound trading will be explored at a later stage.

Please contact our Eric Lui or Rodney Teoh for any enquiries or further information.

SW acted as the legal adviser in the following IPO transactions:

We look forward to assist clients reaching more of their business milestones by delivering high quality, efficient and professional legal services. Please contact our Hank Lo, Eric Lui, Cornelia Chu, Erica Cheng or Rodney Teoh for any enquiries or further information about the above transactions.