Stevenson Wong & Co. attended Allbright Annual Dinner 2015 in Shanghai

On 9 January 2015, SW partners Mr. Willy Cheng and Mr. Eric Lui and our China Business Development Officer Ms. Connie Yeung, attended the Annual Dinner 2015 of Allbright Law Offices held in the Shanghai International Convention Centre.

Lawyers and representatives from all 11 Allbright offices in China also joined the event. Guests had an enjoyable night with excellent performances by representatives from different Allbright offices.

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

Stevenson, Wong & Co. assisted Pegasus Entertainment Holdings Limited (1326.hk) in its transfer of listing from GEM to the Main Board

SW assists Pegasus Entertainment Holdings Limited (Stock Code on Main Board: 1326; Stock Code on GEM: 8039) (the “Company”), a company principally engaged in films and television series production, distribution and licensing of film rights in Hong Kong, the PRC and South East Asia through its established channels, in its transfer of listing from the Growth Enterprise Market (“GEM”) to the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. SW acted as the legal adviser for the Company.

Photograph of Mr. Wong Pak Ming (middle), chairman and executive director of the Company, and SW team members for the listing project, Mr. Hank Lo (second from left), Ms. Cornelia Chu (second from right), Mr. Stephan Chan (on the right) and Mr. Horace Chan (on the left) taken at the listing ceremony:

Photograph of Mr. Wong Chi Woon Edmond (middle), executive director of the Company, Mr. Lam Kam Tong (on the right), independent non-executive director of the Company, and our Hank Lo (on the left) taken at the listing ceremony:

SW was also the legal adviser for the company for its listing on GEM in 2012. The shares of the Company are listed on the Main Board on 9 January 2015.

Please contact our Hank Lo for any enquiries or further information about this transaction.

Canada launches express entry immigration selection system

On 1 January 2015, the Canadian government officially launched the express entry selection system (“Express Entry”) for immigration to Canada.

Eligible candidates can create their online profiles and maximize their chances of being invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence. According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”, the online platform of the Canadian immigration and citizenship authority), first invitations to apply for Express Entry will be issued before the end of January 2015. Hence, candidates who act promptly may have better chances of receiving early invitations. The launch of Express Entry will change the way how the Canadian immigration system is operated, by switching it from supply-driven to demand-driven system.

The Canada federal government, provincial governments and Canadian employers are able to select immigration candidates from the Express Entry pool, which is made up of candidates who must qualify for either one of the following programs, the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program or the Canadian Experience Class. The key requirements of these programs are summarised below:

1. Federal Skilled Worker Program

   Applicants under this program must:

   (a) have at least one year of continuous full-time or equivalent paid work experience in the past 10 years in a skilled occupation (National Occupational Classification skill lever 0, A or B); or

   (b) qualify for Arranged Employment with a Labour Market Impact Assessment and a full-time, permanent job offer from a Canadian employer; or

   (c) have completed a PhD in Canada, or have completed two years of study in Canada towards a PhD, in both cases at a recognized institution; and

   (d) pass a minimum threshold of language ability for one of Canada’s two official languages (English/French).

   In addition, applicants under this program must attain at least 67 points based on CIC immigration selection factors.

2. Federal Skilled Trades Program

   Applicants under this program must:

   (a) have offers of employment from up to two employers in Canada of at least one year duration OR a Certificate of Qualification from a provincial or territorial body;

   (b) provide proof of basic language proficiency from a designated language testing organization, demonstrating that the applicant meets the minimum threshold set by the Minister (Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 for speaking and listening, 4 for reading and writing);

   (c) have obtained twenty-four months of qualified work experience in the skilled trade in the last five years; and

   (d) be able to demonstrate the skills and experience and that they have performed the essential duties of the occupation.

   90 eligible occupations will be eligible for this program.

3. Canadian Experience Class

   This is an immigration category for Canada’s temporary foreign workers who wish to become permanent residents. Applicants under this program must:

   (a) obtained at least one year of skilled, professional or technical work experience in Canada within 36 months of the application date;

   (b) met or surpassed a Canadian Language Benchmark threshold of 5 (“initial intermediate”) or 7 (“adequate intermediate proficiency”) depending on the level of the job; and

   (c) plan to live and work outside of the Province of Quebec (individuals who plan to reside in Quebec may apply to the Quebec Experience Class).

Selected candidates will be issued an invitation to apply and must submit a completed application within 60 days. CIC aims to process the applications within 6 months.

Please contact our Hank Lo for any enquiries or further information about this news.

(Source: http://www.cicnews.com/2014/12/canada-launches-express-entry-immigration-selection-system-124327.html;
http://www.cicnews.com/2014/12/express-entry-124159.html)

Stevenson Wong & Co. attended Allbright Annual M&A Conference 2014

SW partner Mr. Eric Lui, attended the Annual Merger and Acquisition Conference in Shanghai organised by the M&A Committee of Allbright Law Offices on 27 December 2014. The Conference covered review of the M&A business of Allbright in 2014, topical presentations by lawyers and representatives from investment banks and case studies. Our Eric Lui delivered a presentation on the topic of reorganisation for domestic enterprises for overseas listing. Eric gave a brief introduction of the requirements and procedure for listing on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. He also talked about issues on regulatory approval and tax in connection with the “red-chip” mode, and legal issues in respect of the issuance of H shares.

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

Stevenson, Wong & Co. assisted Smartac Group China Holdings Limited (395.hk) in its placing of 300 million new shares on HKEx

SW assists Smartac Group China Holdings Limited (Stock Code: 395) (the “Company”, together with its subsidiaries the “Group”), a company listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, in its issue and placing of 300,000,000 new shares at the placing price of HK$0.31 per placing share. The placing was completed on 23 December 2014.

Orient Securities (Hong Kong) Limited acted as the placing agent and Orient Capital (Hong Kong) Limited acted as the financial adviser in this placing.

The Group is one of the largest zirconium chemicals manufacturers and exporters in the PRC and has diversified its business into new energy-related business and the O2O (online to offline) market.  SW acted as the Hong Kong legal adviser for the Company.

Please contact our Hank Lo for any enquiries or further information about this transaction.

Super-rich Chinese considering emigration

According to a recent global poll of two thousand high net worth individuals (total net worth in excess of US$1.5 million per individual) conducted by Barclays Wealth, 47% of super-rich Chinese nationals plan to emigrate within the next 5 years. Their main reasons include superior overseas educational and employment opportunities for their future generation. 30% of the Chinese respondents stated Hong Kong is their preferred destination followed by Canada at 23%.

In the same poll, 16% of the super-rich in Hong Kong plan to emigrate within the next 5 years (of which 44% choose Singapore as their destination whilst 31% prefer relocating to Mainland China).

(Source: http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=11&art_id=149482&sid=42991077&con_type=1&d_str=20140916&fc=2)