On 4 November 2016, our Partner Ms Sherlynn Chan visited Mr Hajime Ueda, the Director of Hague Convention Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, to obtain first-hand information of Hague cases in Japan and share SW’s experience in handling Hague cases in Hong Kong with the Japanese counterparts.

Since Japan joined the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction 1980 (the “1980 Hague Convention”) in 2014, there have been 106 cases on assistance in return and 108 cases on assistance in visitation or contact, out of which 2 cases involved Hong Kong Court. SW successfully acted for the Plaintiff in seeking the return of the children to Japan under the Child Abduction and Custody Ordinance, which implements the provisions of the 1980 Hague Convention (LPQ v LYW [2014] HKCU 2976). Details of the case can be accessed here.

Please contact our Ms Catherine Por or Ms Sherlynn Chan for any enquiries or further information about this event.

Soon after the Government announced its proposed new ad valorem stamp duty rate on 4 November 2016, our legal executive of the Banking Department, Mr. Man Wong, together with our Ms. Hebe Au, was invited to give a presentation on the new stamp duty measures to banking practitioners at China Construction Bank (Asia) on 16 November 2016.

The presentation covered the computation of stamp duty under the new measures, and the possible exemptions and exceptions.

Please contact our Mr. Man Wong for any enquiries or further information about this event.

On 1-2 November 2016, our partner, Ms. Wendy Lam, attended the STEP Asia Conference 2016 held in Hong Kong as one of the guest speakers. This two-day conference gathered over 40 experts from different jurisdictions to share their insight and experience in a wide spectrum of global issues and specialist topics, with over 450 attendees and more than 80 applicants on the waiting list.

With divorce rates running at over 50% in some countries and rising number of setting up of trusts, trusts are increasingly under attack by parties seeking a portion of the trust assets. Ms. Lam was invited to speak with Mr. Mark Harper of Hughes Fowler Carruthers, UK and Ms. Hao Wang of RayYin & Partners, PRC on the topic “Trust under attack – Spousal attack and community property restrictions”. Her presentation focused on the Hong Kong Family Court’s approach in dealing with attack of family trusts in divorce proceedings, with reference to some landmark cases in this area of law.

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

On 28 October 2016, our Partner Mr. Stephen Wong together with our Public Relations Manager Ms. Yo Yo Fang, attended a forum in Tianjin on the development of commercial litigation and arbitration under the new economic environment. The forum was jointly held by AllBright Law Office (Shanghai), AllBright Law Office (Tianjin), Stevenson, Wong & Co. and Tianjin Arbitration Commission.

Mr. Wong spoke on the topic of international dispute resolution. He discussed the existing arbitration rules in Hong Kong and commented on how business enterprises could make the most of arbitration in resolving disputes. Mr. Wong also explained the possible legal challenges which may be faced by Chinese enterprises under the current “Go Out” policy adopted by the Chinese government.

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

On 27 October 2016, our Ms Connie Yeung, Head of Business Development (China), and Ms Zita Huang, Business Development Manager (China), attended the Jiangsu Chamber of International Commerce Cross-border Acquisitions and Investment Seminar as speakers, which was held in Novotel Nanjing Central Suning in Nanjing.

The seminar covered issues on cross-border acquisitions from different perspectives such as current trends of cross-border acquisitions of Chinese enterprises, cross-border acquisition practice and risk management, tax evaluation and planning, valuation and bidding strategy, etc. Ms Yeung was invited to give a 30-minute presentation on the topic “The Structural Advantage of Hong Kong and Overseas Assets Protection”.

Please contact Ms. Connie Yeung for any enquiries or further information about this event.

Our partners Mr. Willy Cheng, Mr. Eric Lui and Ms. Lai Lam attended the Interlaw Annual Global Meeting held in Tokyo between 25-30 October 2016. Interlaw is an international association of independent law firms (currently 75 firms over the world) and has been ranked by Chambers and Partners as an elite global network of law firms allowing clients to have access to more than 7000 trusted legal experts around the world.

Nearly 150 delegates and accompanying guests from Interlaw member firms attended this year’s meeting on Global Compliance.

The highlight of the meeting was a symposium attended by more than 80 Japanese clients on “Global Compliance Issues for Japanese Companies Doing Business Overseas”. Compliance specialists from three different Companies shared their experience. Mr. Masanori Nagata from Panasonic Corporation shared his views on the necessity and difficulties of tackling Cartels. Mr. Hideki Yamanaka from Astellas Pharmaceutical Corporation and Mr. Hiromichi Jitsuno of Sumitomo Corporation both shared their experiences in developing global compliance for corporations operating across the world. Our partners also attended several Special Business Team Meetings including Global IP/IT, Managing Partners, Next Generation and Women Lawyers of Interlaw.

The strength of the network lies in its longevity, quality of client service, collegiality between Member firms and the longstanding friendship between fellow Interlawyers. At the conclusion of the meeting, delegates were already looking forward to the next meeting beginning with the joint Americas and Asia Pacific Meeting in Seattle in April 2017.

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

From left to right: Ms. Bee Hong Ooi, Ms. Tomoko Takemura, Mr. Willy Cheng

From left to right: Mr. Makoto Matsuo, Mr. Willy Cheng, Mr. Kevin Zhu

Mr. Bruce Wood and Mr. Willy Cheng

Mr. Brett Hearnden and Ms. Lai Lam