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.

Since China opened its doors to foreign investors around forty years ago, it has been a top recipient for international direct investments. Despite the gradual slowdown of the country’s overall economic growth, foreign interest in China continues to be strong. After a slight decline in 2016, foreign direct investment increased again by 3% to US$134.97 billion in 2018.

一、前言

众所周知，如从事《外商投资产业指导目录》项下限制或禁止外商投资业务的境内公司拟于境外上市，其无法完全采用股权架构的方式搭建上市架构，而需采用通过合约安排对其境内运营实体（以下简称“OPCO公司”）进行协议控制的架构（以下简称“VIE架构”）完成境外拟上市公司与OPCO公司的链接。

根据香港联合交易所有限公司（以下简称“联交所”）现行有效的关于VIE架构的上市规定（即联交所于2004年5月23日首次刊发的《有关上市发行人业务使用合约安排的指引》（HKEx-GL77-14，以下简称《VIE指引》）（于2018年4月最新修订）与2005年第一季度刊发的关于合约安排的上市决策（HKEX-LD43-3，以下简称《VIE上市决策》）（于2018年4月最新修订），采用VIE架构的上市申请人应当适用“严格限定”原则（即通常所说“narrowly tailored”规则）。

但根据我们的项目经验以及案例研究，我们注意到联交所上市规定项下“严格限定”原则似乎尚存在一定灵活适用的空间。本文拟对于《VIE指引》及《VIE上市决策》项下“严格限定”原则及其实践情况进行简要分析，以期为相关读者了解如何适用“严格限定”原则提供参考。

As the number of enterprise groups in China has increased, the phenomenon of affiliates jointly going into bankruptcy has also become more common. Once a member of an enterprise group enters a bankruptcy procedure, whether its affiliates will also simultaneously enter the procedure with it has consistently been an issue of concern to creditors.

As the Chinese economy enters the “new normal”, the Chinese government has been adjusting its industrial and credit-related policies and strengthening regulation of Chinese financial institutions. A large number of non-performing loans (NPLs) as well as actual loan defaults have started to surface. The risks associated with rising levels of NPLs require Chinese banks to enhance their ex ante and ex post credit risk management practices.

Restructuring & Insolvency Asia Pacific Introduction The bankruptcy regime was a major milestone for China. For the first time in its history, China now has a unified and comprehensive bankruptcy system covering all types of enterprises, including foreign investment vehicles and state-owned enterprises.

Investors in non-performing loans ("NPLs") continue to look for new jurisdictions and opportunities to achieve attractive returns on capital. Much of the European NPL market is now in a relatively advanced state (particularly in the more mature parts of the market such as UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and, to a lesser extent, Italy). Funds are, therefore, looking further afield for NPL opportunities. One interesting jurisdiction, given the 1.71 trillion yuan (c.US $270 billion) of NPLs held by commercial banks, is China.

Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan said last week that there were plans to introduce a bill this year into the city’s Legislative Council to put in place a long-awaited and much needed corporate rescue procedure for Hong Kong.

On 27 March 2019, the Supreme People’s Court (the “SPC”) published its Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law of the People's Republic of China (III) (the “Bankruptcy Law Interpretation III”) which became effective on 28 March 2019. The Bankruptcy Law Interpretation III clarified certain aspects of the PRC Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, with the ultimate goal of improving the business environment in China by strengthening creditors’ right and the rule of law surrounding corporate insolvencies.

Hong Kong’s restructuring scene is one of the most cross-border in the world, with three-quarters of its listed companies incorporated offshore and most restructurings having a mainland China connection. But the territory still lacks a statutory regime for cross-border recognition – as recently brought into focus in the restructuring of Singaporean engineering company CW Group. What does this mean for international insolvencies in the region?