On 11 February 2015, SW legal executive Ms. Anita Tong and SW Head of Business Development (China) Ms. Connie Yeung delivered a presentation on trust and immigration at the office of AMTD Asset Management Limited (“AMTD”).

In the first part of the seminar, Ms. Yeung and Ms. Tong introduced the background of SW and shared the previous cases in respect of Trust and Immigration practices at SW.

In the second part of the seminar, Ms. Yeung presented on various topics including asset protection, trust, immigration etc.

In the last part of the seminar, Ms. Tong presented the requirements for obtaining Hong Kong permanent ID under CIES program.

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

On 10 February 2015, SW legal executive Mr. Man Wong and Head of Business Development (China) Ms. Connie Yeung attended a seminar at the office of FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited (“FWD”) and delivered a presentation on various topics, including how to protect assets through the establishment of a trust, the benefits of setting up a trust, what clients should consider in doing succession planning and popular options of investment immigration.

Around 20 participants from FWD attended the seminar.

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

On 5 February 2015, SW senior associate Ms. Freda Au, legal executives Mr. Stanley Hung, Mr. Man Wong and Ms. Anita Tong and SW China Business Development Officer (China) Ms. Connie Yeung delivered a presentation on stamp duty, trust and immigration at Bank of Communications Co. Ltd. (BCOM) (Kowloon South) Commercial Banking Centre to over 20 representatives from BCOM.

In the first part of the seminar, Mr. Wong and Mr. Hung gave practical advice to the audience on how the hStamp Duty Ordinance applies to property and share transactions in Hong Kong.

In the second part of the seminar, Ms. Yeung explained the benefits of setting up a trust, how to help clients with succession planning and introduced different popular options for investment immigration.

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

Stevenson, Wong & Co. and AllBright Law Firm obtained  approval from Department of Justice, Guangdong on 21 January 2015 to set up a joint venture law firm in Qianhai (ABL&SW). ABL&SW is one of the first batch of joint venture law firms between a law firm of the Hong Kong SAR and a law firm of Mainland China in Qianhai. The lawyers of Stevenson, Wong & Co. and AllBright Law Firm will explore the provision of innovative legal services based on this platform and provide international standard legal services to enhance the development of Qianhai’s modern service industries cooperation zone. ABL&SW can provide legal services from both PRC  and Hong Kong law perspectives to satisfy the requirements of  clients.

SW Partner Ms. Lai Lam recently attended the Interlaw Asia Pacific Regional Meeting which was hosted by Colin Ng & Partners LLP in Singapore. The Theme of the meeting was “Asia Pacific Integration”.

Keynote speakers included Dr. Deborah Kay Elms (Executive Director of Asian Trade Centre), Mr. Eitaro Kojima (Japan External Trade Organization), Mr. Oliver Tonby (Managing Partner of Mckinsey & Company (Southeast Asia)).

Representatives of special business teams (SBT) held informative and interesting meetings prior to the AP program. SBT included Banking & Finance, M&A, Energy, Employment, Arbitration/Litigation to name a few.

Close to 50 delegates attended the meeting, which is a record high number. Attendees not only came from the Asia Pacific Region, but also Europe, USA and Latin America.

The next AP meeting will be held in March 2016 and hosted by Interlaw’s Vietnamese member firm, Vision & Associates.

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

On February 3, 2015, the State Administration of Taxation of People’s Republic of China issued the “Announcement on Issues Concerning Nonresident Enterprise Indirect Transfer of Property Enterprise Income Tax” (2015 Bulletin No. 7, “Bulletin 7”)

Bulletin 7 is to be effective on February 3, 2015 and concurrently, article 5 and 6 of the “Notice on Strengthening the Administration of Enterprise Income Tax on Income from the Transfer of Shares by Nonresident Enterprises” (Guoshuihan [2009] Circular No. 698, “Circular 698”) are repealed.

Articles 5 and 6 of Circular 698 primarily stipulate the determination on whether a nonresident enterprise whose ownership has been transferred may be deemed to carry a reasonable commercial purpose (合理商业目) and the treatment of such enterprise should such a purpose be deemed. Upon the repeal of these two articles, Bulletin 7 has become the main official document for matters relating to taxation on indirect transfer of stock rights of resident Chinese companies or their assets and to the corresponding procedures.

Compared with Circular 698, the newly announced Bulletin 7 is clearly drafted and is outlined with straightforward procedures. The major clarifications from Bulletin 7 are as follows:
1. any transaction of indirect transfer of stock rights or assets is taxable in accordance to paragraph 3 of article 3 of Enterprise Income Tax Law; the tax rate shall be 10%;
2. the standard for the determination of a reasonable commercial purpose (合理商业目) is expounded in article 3 of Bulletin 7;
3. should the transfer be deemed as one of those described in article 4 of Bulletin 7, a reasonable commercial purpose (合理商业目), by ipso facto, is deemed not to be;
4. should the reorganization of a non-resident group of companies satisfies any condition as mentioned in article 6 of Bulletin 7, a reasonable commercial purpose (合理商业目), by ipso facto, is deemed to be; and
5. a transferee of a share transfer transaction is deemed to be the default obligor for the related Company’s income tax obligation; if the related transferor fails to declare to the taxation authority on the transfer, the taxation authority, nevertheless, has the right to impose the obligation on the transferee; the obligation on the transferee may be reduced or removed if the transferee, after an agreement is made for the share transfer transaction, informs the taxation authority according to the provisions.