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Income from the Transfer of Shares by Nonresident Enterprises” (Guoshuihan [2009] Circular No. 698, “Circular 698”) are repealed.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.

Stevenson, Wong & Co. attended the “Private Adjudication of Financial Disputes in Family Cases” seminar jointly held by the Academy of Law and Hong Kong Bar Association

SW partner Ms. Catherine Por, partner Ms. Wendy Lam, consultant Ms. Sherlynn Chan and associate Ms. Stella Cheng together with other legal professionals attended the seminar on “Private Adjudication of Financial Disputes in Family Cases” on 27 January 2015. The response of the event was overwhelming and had been oversubscribed.

To familiarise practitioners with the new Practice Direction SL 9, the Academy of Law and Hong Kong Bar Association invited the Honorable Mr. Justice Lam, Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of the High Court and Her Honour Judge Bebe Chu, Deputy Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court to give a talk on the salient features of the pilot scheme for private adjudication of financial disputes in Matrimonial and Family Proceedings under the new Practice Direction and other practical issues arising from it. This Private Financial Adjudication will be a new mode of ADR and is intended to be quicker and more flexible than usual court proceedings.

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

Representatives from the Liaison Office of the PRC Government in HK and Shanghai Bar Associations visit Stevenson, Wong & Co.

On 23 January 2015, representatives from the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, including Mr. Yu Xue Jie, Director of the Legal Affairs, and the Shanghai Bar Association, including Mr. Sheng Leiming, its president who is also the Vice-President of All China Lawyers Association, Ms. Chen Dong, its Vice Secretary-General and Administrative Office Director and Ms. Liu Jiangjiang, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee in Shanghai Bureau of Justice visited our office in Hong Kong.

SW partners, Mr. Willy Cheng, Mr. Eric Lui, Ms. Heidi Chui and Ms. Erica Cheng, together with a senior partner of Allbright Law Offices, Mr. Du Xiaodong, welcomed our guests and exchanged ideas on various topics of interest. Our guests were impressed by the spectrum of our practice areas and the friendly working environment of our office.

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

Stevenson, Wong & Co. attended Greater China Legal Affairs Committee Cocktail

On 23 January 2015, SW partner Mr. Eric Lui attended the cocktail reception organised by the Greater China Legal Affairs Committee (“GCLAC”) of the Law Society of Hong Kong held at Club Lusitano, Central. Fellow committees members and general members of the Law Society attended this networking event. Eric was recently invited to join as a member of the GCLAC.

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