Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Recovery and resolution planning October 2015 1 The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau of the Hong Kong Government (FSTB) in conjunction with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and the Insurance Authority (IA)1 on 9 October 2015 published a paper entitled An Effective Resolution Regime for Financial Institutions in Hong Kong: Consultation Response and Certain Further Issues (CP3).2 Background Following from the recent global financial crisis, the G20 tasked the Financial Stability Board (FSB) with

The SFC has applied to the High Court for an order directing Lehman Brothers Asia Ltd to comply with a SFC notice to produce certain records in connection with its investigation of the offer and marketing of Minibonds. The SFC notice required Lehman Brothers to produce to the SFC all documents relating to the assessment of Minibonds by an internal Lehman Brothers committee. Lawyers for Lehman Brothers objected to the production of certain documents on the ground that such documents were the subject of a claim of legal professional privilege.

GENERAL

The Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 Gazetted

The Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 (Amendment Ordinance) was gazetted on 3 June 2016. The Amendment Ordinance aims to improve and modernize Hong Kong’s corporate winding-up regime. The Amendment Ordinance will come into effect on a appropriate date to be published in the Gazette.

Major provisions of the Amendment Ordinance include:

Reconsidering the Lasmos approach to winding-up petitions involving arbitration clauses.

Hong Kong’s notoriously landlord-friendly leases make it hard to renegotiate terms during an economic downturn, tying many tenants into leases well above market values. The territory’s high rents, added to 24 months of declining retail sales, have left retailers in Hong Kong feeling the chill. Many tenants may wish to look beyond their contractual rights and obligations to find a commercial solution. In such difficult circumstances, there are six options retailers could consider.

1. Rent restructure

Japan

Report published on ensuring fair and timely disclosure of information to investors. The FSA announced that the Task Force on Fair Disclosure Rule of the Working Group on Financial Markets of the Financial System Council has published the “Report - Ensuring fair and timely disclosure of information to investors.” (3/3/2017)

Hong Kong

SFC released consultation conclusions on supervisory assistance. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) released consultation conclusions on proposed amendments to the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO). The amendments would provide assistance to regulators outside of Hong Kong upon request by making inquiries and obtaining certain records and documents from licensed corporations or their related corporations. The proposed supervisory assistance will be subject to both existing and new legislative safeguards.

In a pair of significant judgments issued on the same day, Re China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd. [2020] HKCFI 2940 and FDG Electric Vehicles Ltd. [2020] HKCFI 2931, the Honorable Mr. Justice Harris has once again issued highly relevant and timely guidance on key cross-border insolvency issues.

On Wednesday, the Court of Final Appeal ("CFA") reversed the lower courts' decision in the Yung Kee case¹ , holding that the Hong Kong court has jurisdiction to order the winding up of Yung Kee Holdings Limited (the "Company"), a holding company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and not registered in Hong Kong.

In another groundbreaking decision, the Hong Kong court in Re Ando Credit Ltd [2020] HKCFI 2775, has appointed provisional liquidators over a Hong Kong-incorporated investment manager for the express purpose of allowing the liquidators to seek recognition in the Mainland. The judgment is the latest in a series of judgments facilitating cross-border recognition and enforcement of assets and takes the degree of potential cooperation envisaged to a new level.

Application unopposed