On 28 July 2017, our partners Mr. Rodney Teoh and Legal Executive Mr. Man Wong attended the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Employees Union 6th Anniversary Gala Dinner celebrated in conjunction with the 20th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR.

Mr. Teoh and Mr. Wong met the Honorary Life Chairman of Hong Kong Securities & Futures Employees Union Mr. Patrick Lam during the event in which numerous members had participated and shared the joyful moment.

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

Our Mr. Eric Lui attended the “PPP and Practical Law of Asset Securitization” forum and the opening ceremony of AllBright new office in Xian on 22 July 2017.

To celebrate the opening of its new office in Xian, the events were held at Shangri-La Hotel Xian and the representatives of AllBright offices across the country came to share the joyful moment. Meanwhile, the “PPP and Practical Law of Asset Securitization” forum was also held to discuss the practical legal issues related to asset securitization and PPP.

AllBright has established over 15 offices throughout China and the operation keeps on growing. Mr. Lui congratulated AllBright for the achievement and he was looking forward to craving success in the future together with AllBright.

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

SW has advised the sponsor and underwriters of Wealthy Way Group Limited (03848) (“Wealthy Way”) in the successful listing of Wealthy Way on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Stock Exchange”).

The shares of Wealthy Way were listed on the Stock Exchange on 21 July 2017. 36 million shares were offered, among which 32.4 million were offered for placing and 3.6 million for subscription by the public. The final offer price was HK$5.56 per offer share and the net proceeds amounted to approximately HK$173.1 million.

Wealthy Way is a financial leasing and advisory services provider based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, the PRC, primarily specialising in the provision of financial leasing services and advisory services for customers in the PRC. Since 2014, it has focused on certain specific industry segments with growth potential, such as airlines, health care service providers and energy saving equipment providers.

Please contact our Mr. Hank Lo and Ms. Erica Cheng for any enquiries or further information about this transaction.

On 21 July 2017, Director-General of the Department of Justice of Guangdong Province Mr. Xianglu Zeng, Deputy Director of the Department of Justice of Guangdong Province Mr. Zheng Liang, Director of Lawyer Administration Division of Guangdong Justice Department Ting Huang, Deputy Director of Lawyer Administration Division of Guangdong Justice Department Meixin Huang, Secretary for the Office of the Party Committee of Department of Justice of Guangdong Province Mr. Qingfeng Jiao, President of Guangdong Lawyers Association Shengfang Xiao, Vice President of Guangdong Lawyers Association Fang Chen and Vice Secretary-General of Guangdong Lawyers Association Jie Deng visited our Hong Kong office together with Selina Zhang, the representative from Department of Law of The Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in HKSAR.

SW partners Mr. Willy Cheng, Mr. Stephen Wong, Mr. Rodney Teoh and Senior Foreign Lawyer Mr. Hollis Chen received the guests and introduced the business of SW to them. At the meeting, there was discussion on the joint venture law firm set up by AllBright Law Offices and Stevenson, Wong & Co. in Qianhai (“ABL&SW”) last year and its development. The views exchanged were insightful and constructive.

Should you have any enquiry about this event, please contact our Mr. Willy Cheng, Mr. Stephen Wong, Mr. Rodney Teoh and Senior Foreign Lawyer Mr. Hollis Chen for further information.

SW acted as legal advisers to Hang Chi Holdings Limited (Stock Code: 08405) (“Hang Chi”) to list on the Growth Enterprise Market of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Stock Exchange”).

The shares of Hang Chi were listed on the Stock Exchange on 12 July 2017. 100 million shares were offered, among which 50 million were offered for placing and 50 million for subscription by the public. The final offer price was HK$0.72 per offer share and the net proceeds amounted to approximately HK$45.5 million.

Hang Chi is an established operator of elderly residential care homes in Hong Kong providing comprehensive residential care home services such as accommodation with dietician-managed meal plan, caretaking assistance, regular medical consultation and therapy through the network of “Shui On瑞安” and “Shui Hing瑞興” branded elderly residential care homes across four districts in Hong Kong.

Please contact our Mr. Hank Lo and Ms. Erica Cheng for any enquiries or further information about this transaction.

On 13 July 2017, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the Apology Bill, with the object of “promoting and encouraging the making of apologies with a view to preventing the escalation of disputes and facilitating amicable resolution.”

The Apology Bill is the first of its kind in Asian jurisdictions, consisting of 13 clauses and a schedule, and will be applicable to apologies made by a person (or those made on behalf of the person) on or after the commencement date of the Ordinance.

The Definition of an Apology and the Applicable Proceedings

Under the new law, evidence of an apology will not generally be admissible for determination of issues in any Applicable Proceedings, subject to certain exceptions. In practical terms, an apology will not be treated as admission of any fault or liability, or used against him in determining other issues (such as appropriate remedies or issues of credibility) in a defined set of Applicable Proceedings, i.e. judicial, arbitral, administrative, disciplinary, regulatory proceedings or any other proceedings conducted under an enactment.

An apology is defined as “an expression of the person’s regret, sympathy or benevolence in connection with the matter” made orally, in writing or by conduct, and typically includes an expression that “the person is sorry about the matter”. Significantly, the apology also includes any part of the expression that is an express or implied admission of the person’s fault or liability or a statement of fact in connection with the matter.

Exception

The new law would not apply to criminal proceedings, proceedings of the Legislative Council and other proceedings conducted under the Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance, the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance and the Coroners Ordinance.

An apology would also be admissible with the apology maker’s consent. The Court is also vested with the discretion to admit a statement of fact contained in an apology in an exceptional case, and only if it is just and equitable to do so, having regard to the public interest or the interests of the administration of justice.

Implications in other areas

An apology is precluded from constituting an acknowledgment of rights and hence would not extend the relevant limitation period of certain rights of action relating to land, personal property, debts and other claims.

Finally, in order to alleviate the concern of any adverse effect on insurance covers by apologies where some insurance contracts may contain provisions that prohibit the admission of fault by the insured without the insurer’s consent, the new law also provides that a person’s apology would not affect any insurance cover, compensation or other form of benefit under a contract of insurance or indemnity.

We anticipate that with the introduction of the Apology Ordinance, the concerns of making apologies can be alleviated and hence this would prevent escalation of disputes and encourage reaching an amicable resolution.

Should you have any enquiries to the bill, please contact our partner Ms. Heidi Chui for more details.