The First International Commercial Court of the Supreme People’s Court of China (“CICC“) has recently published its first rulings [1] on the validity of three arbitration agreements in relation to one same transaction. CICC recognised the principle of severability of arbitration agreement and held that although the underlying contracts had not been formally signed, the parties … Read more
The Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region takes effect today, 1 October 2019, in both Mainland China and Hong Kong. The SPC has also released an explanatory memo setting out its understanding of key aspects … Read more
In the recent case of AIG Insurance Hong Kong Ltd v Lynn McCullough and William McCullough [2019] HKCFI 1649, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance (CFI) considered the effect of an arbitration agreement under an insurance policy and, in particular, the circumstances in which an anti-suit injunction may be granted to restrain a party … Read more
In But Ka Chon v Interactive Brokers LLC [2019] HKCA 873, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal to set aside a statutory demand arising out of online forex futures trading debts. In doing so, Vice-President Kwan of the Court of Appeal made obiter comments on the circumstances in which a winding-up petition … Read more
The Mane Forum was held today in Singapore on the eve of a historic moment – the signing of the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, also known as the Singapore Convention. This morning, the Singapore International Mediation Centre signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China International Economic and Trade Arbitration … Read more
Please click here to access a preview of the Guide. We are pleased to launch the 2019 edition of our Asia Pacific Guide to Privilege. Businesses are increasingly faced with multi-jurisdictional disputes where evidence rarely falls within the borders of a single country and complex legal privilege issues often surface when dealing with communications across multiple … Read more
In Li Lian Dong and Others v Shen Yi (2018) Jing 04 Min Te 541, a first instance decision made earlier this year, the Beijing 4th Intermediate People’s Court considered whether the court’s power to set aside an arbitral award extends to setting aside the parties’ settlement formally given effect to by the arbitral tribunal … Read more
A trend to combine dispute resolution processes, typically mediation and arbitration, is gaining traction internationally. In Asia, the Belt and Road Initiative is driving this change. With China at the heart of the Belt and Road, a more consensus-driven approach to dispute resolution, reflecting Asian values and promoting mediation, looks set to thrive. Traditionally, international … Read more
Hong Kong’s long-awaited legislation permitting third parties to fund arbitrations and related proceedings takes effect today. As heralded in our earlier posts, this is a widely welcomed development in one of the world’s leading arbitral seats, and is expected to generate considerable activity. If you have questions on the new law, funders’ Code of Practice, … Read more
