The long-running dispute between Astro, a Malaysian media giant, and Lippo, an Indonesian conglomerate, has reached the end of the latest heavily contested battle by Lippo against the enforcement of arbitral awards given in Astro’s favor. In PT First Media… Read more

Following the recent election in Japan, the government is examining ways of introducing more flexibility in employment contracts. Steven Harwood looks at the various government proposals in this post. ... Read more

The Court of First Instance in Hong Kong recently provided a timely reminder that the jurisdiction to wind up a foreign company is an exorbitant one and therefore winding up petitions and applications for leave to serve them out of the Hong… Read more

The High Court in Hong Kong recently examined the circumstances in which a liquidator was able to depart from their implied duty not to disclose documents obtained from third parties under statute or in the furtherance of their legal duty.… Read more

At the end of September 2013, it was announced that the UK Government had launched a legal challenge in the Court of Justice of the European Union against the cap on variable remuneration introduced by the new capital requirements directive… Read more

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) recently announced that it will introduce new rules requiring firms to advertise job vacancies on a new ‘jobs bank’ administered by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) before a firm can apply for an Employment… Read more

The choice of exclusive jurisdiction in favour of either Hong Kong or the PRC courts in a contract may enable litigants to take benefit from the reciprocal enforcement arrangement underpinned by the Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments… Read more

The High Court in Hong Kong recently considered whether the evidence it was obliged to consider in a security for costs application was limited to that available at the time of the application or extended to evidence of the company's… Read more

In Genesis Housing Association Limited v Liberty Syndicate Management Limited and others [2013] EWCA Civ 1173 the Court of Appeal upheld the first instance decision of Mr Justice Akenhead and confirmed the legality of basis clauses. A basis clause is… Read more

Data protection in China has been regularly in the news this year. Not only have new data protection regulations been issued, but prosecutions have increased dramatically. In this article, Karen Ip and Owen Cox discuss the employers' obligations and the risks involved. ... Read more

'Unjust enrichment' occurs when a defendant has been enriched at the expense of a claimant in a manner deemed to be unjust.  A common example of these types of claims is where an employee has been accidentally paid his or… Read more

With increasing numbers of international estates and the multi-jurisdictional litigation it can create, the recent Court of Appeal decision relating to the estate of Vannee Nativivat raised an interesting issue: can an executor appointed under a foreign Will bring proceedings… Read more

Estates disputes in Hong Kong come in all shapes and sizes.  We have previously covered disputes over Wills.  The case of Cheng Tsang Kam Yung v Tang Kam Cheung concerned a dispute over who administers the estate. ... Read more

Preparations continue as the Hong Kong Government brings the Competition Ordinance into effect in phases.  The Ordinance, which has been enacted to curb cross-sector anti-competitive conduct, is expected to remain in this transitional period until sometime in 2014 so the… Read more

Chinese outbound direct investment ("ODI") reached new heights in 2013, and the upward trend looks to continue as Chinese investors inject capital into diverse investments and strategic acquisitions around the world. As Chinese investors continue to look abroad for new… Read more

In previous posts, we have covered some Wills disputes in Hong Kong. However, the phenomenon of large estate battles is by no means exclusive to Hong Kong. The recent Indian case concerning the estate of Raja Harinder Singh Brar Bans… Read more

Three key changes have recently taken place in the field of employment in Singapore.  Firstly, the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act of 2012, Act 26 of 2012 (PDPA) was enacted at the end of 2012 and parts relating to the administration… Read more

At our last private wealth seminar, we took an in-depth look at charities.  A recent UK case has highlighted some of the curiosities which can arise in this context. Back in 1927, the UK national debt reached 160% of GDP… Read more

In the last year, we have seen governments across the Asia-Pacific region tightening their laws and regulations relating to the use of agency (dispatch) and temporary workers. At least in some cases, this is in response to a perceived over-reliance… Read more

On 16 July 2013, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) published a new set of regulations entitled "Regulations on the Protection of Personal Information of Telecom and Internet Users" (电信和互联网用户个人信息保护规定). The regulations will come into effect on 1… Read more

The Singapore case of Sembcorp Marine Ltd v PPL Holdings Pte Ltd [2012] SGHC 118 (High Court), [2013] SGCA 43 (Court of Appeal) considered the effect of a change of share ownership on the provisions of a 50:50 joint venture… Read more

Bigger fines will be imposed on foreigners illegally entering, living or working in China. Foreign executives of companies that fail to pay full remuneration to employees may also be prevented from leaving China. Refugees have been formally recognized. These and… Read more

Battles over the validity of Wills are becoming more and more common.  A recent Court of Appeal case considered the step before any validity action, ie how someone gets hold of a copy of a Will at all.  Section 7(3)… Read more

On 10 July, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong passed the Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2013. (Click here for our earlier post on the Bill) The Arbitration (Amendment) Ordinance 2013 introduces a number of changes to the 2011 Arbitration Ordinance (Cap.… Read more

On 17 July 2013, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the Trust Law (Amendment) Bill 2013, which will come into operation on 1 December 2013. The purpose of the amendments is to modernise Hong Kong trust law, which is considered… Read more

In Pure International (HK) Ltd v Lo Yan Chan Kenneth [2013] HKEC 1092 the Court of First Instance considered the validity of a six-month restriction prohibiting an ex-employee from finding employment in the same activity within 1000 metres of the… Read more

Today we have launched the ninth edition of our dispute resolution guide for the Asian-Pacific region.  The Guide aims to provide a concise and accessible overview of some of the practical issues involving both litigation and arbitration across the region. … Read more

There have been two recent judgments, one from the Supreme Court in India (Shri Lal Mahal Ltd v Progetto Grano Spa) and one from the English Commercial Court (Gujarat NRE Coke Limited and Shri Arun Kumar Jagatramka v Coeclerici Asia… Read more

Dispute resolution clauses in commercial agreements often contain a requirement to negotiate in good faith or to enter into a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process before starting court or arbitration proceedings.  Parties are likely to rely upon them… Read more

On 26 June 2013 the Government published the consultation conclusions on its key legislative proposals for the establishment of an independent Insurance Authority (IIA).  The establishment of the IIA and the provision for a new statutory licensing regime for insurance… Read more