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By Huang Tao and Dai Yue  King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution Group

Lacking knowledge of and exposure to China’s judicial and arbitrational system, foreign companies usually worry about dispute resolution clauses more than any other clause in a contract. Deciding which arbitration tribunal and what arbitration rules to specify becomes a sensitive and important aspect of contract negotiations for wholly foreign owned entities (“WFOE”) and cooperative joint ventures (“CJV”).

I．     Choice of Arbitration Tribunal

Contracts in which one party is a foreign entity will contain foreign elements, allowing the parties to choose their jurisdiction without restriction under PRC law. The parties to such a contract may decide at their discretion whether to choose an arbitration tribunal within China or in another country, or resort to ad hoc arbitration to resolve disputes.Continue Reading Forum Shopping in China: CIETAC vs. UNCITRAL

作者：黄滔  戴月 金杜律师事务所争议解决组

由于对中国司法制度和仲裁制度的陌生或偏见，外国公司在订立合同时对争议解决条款的关注大大高于其它条款。而在争议解决条款中，它们最为关心的问题之一则是仲裁机构和仲裁规则的选择。在决定选择恰当的仲裁机构及仲裁规则前，外国公司应考虑下列法律问题。

一、仲裁机构的选择

在合同主体一方为外方的情况下，该合同由于具备了“涉外因素”，因而可以自由选择国内机构、国外机构或国外临时仲裁作为争议解决手段。中国法律对此均无禁止性规定。Continue Reading 外资企业如何选择商事合同的仲裁机构和仲裁规则

作者：胡梅 刘海涛  金杜律师事务所争议解决组上海办公室

近几个月来，为数不少的中国企业被指控违反美国证券法和上市公司准则，并因此受到相关调查和法院诉讼。这些问题的曝光通常源于公司聘请的会计师事务所对公司财务信息真实性的怀疑，或是出于外界对公司某些不正当交易的指责。这些公司在被内部审计委员会、美国证监会和相关证交所调查的同时，也面临受害股东提起的法律诉讼。大多数这类中国公司根本没有预想到会面临这些诉讼和调查，也没有料想到其强度和因此会产生的高额费用。这一切都对公司及其董事、管理人员和员工形成了巨大的压力。公司为配合调查或应诉需要调集大量的人力和资金，相关的开支动辄上千万美元，同时还不可避免地殃及公司的日常运作和员工的士气。

为了合规以及应对在美诉讼都要付出高昂的资金成本，外加股价的低迷和交易量的骤减，对于中国企业来说，美国资本市场的吸引力已不如往日。
Continue Reading 中国公司在美国上市的法律风险和成本考量

作者：顾仁芳  金杜律师事务所争议解决组 香港办公室

本文分两部分刊登， 2012年6月5日金杜法律博客(Chinalawinsight)刊登的了本文的第一部分。文章第二部分将继续对《香港的法律制度及解决商业纠纷的民事诉讼程序》进行解读。

八、简易判决

简易判决可作为以全面审讯解决纠纷的另一选择。简易判决是在被告人没有提出抗辩的情况下，法庭可以不经过庭审即向原告人提供实体终局性判决结果[i]。简易判决的程序是为了避免被告人拖延判决进程，并在被告显然缺乏抗辩理由的情况下，避免浪费时间及诉讼成本。Continue Reading 香港的法律制度及解决商业纠纷的民事诉讼程序（2）

作者：顾仁芳  金杜律师事务所争议解决组 香港办公室

一、简介

商界纠纷不可避免，找到既迅速又符合经济效益的争议解决方法至关重要。

香港作为亚洲最国际化的城市，是一个充满活力及东西方融合的大都会。香港给世界各地的企业家提供了一个公平竞争的平台，吸引了众多受过良好教育及技术精湛的工作人员；香港占据了无与伦比的地理位置——它是通往中国的门户；香港秉承法治理念，并以政府廉洁而被称道；香港推行低税率并投资兴建了世界一流的基础设施；香港保障信息自由流通及国际化的生活方式[i]。Continue Reading 香港的法律制度及解决商业纠纷的民事诉讼程序（1）

By Zhang Yi, Alan Du and Hu Xia  King & Wood Mallesons’ Corporate Group Shanghai Office

Recently, it was reported by various media sources that the National Development Reform Commission (NDRC) had issued certain policies requiring an RMB fund (the ‘FIE GP Fund’) with a foreign invested enterprise (the ‘FIE’) acting as the general partner (the ‘FIE GP’) and domestic investors (exclusive of FIEs established in China) acting as limited partners to be regarded as a foreign investor. Being defined as a foreign investor means that the portfolio investments of such a FIE GP Fund shall be subject to foreign investment approvals, which are read by the public as referring to the approvals from the Ministry of Commerce or its local counterpart (MOFCOM).

International private equity firms often structure their RMB funds in the form of FIE GP Funds, as a result this news caused great concern among them because their RMB funds will be defined as offshore funds in regard to making portfolio investments and as a result there will probably be little chance of raising new RMB funds in the form of FIE GP Funds.
Continue Reading NDRC reply on RMB Fund with FIE GP

By Renee Gu  King &  Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution Group

This article continues to discuss The Legal System and Civil Procedure for Commercial Dispute Resolution in Hong Kong. The first part of this article was published on Chinalawinsight on May 2012.

VIII．Summary Judgment

As an alternative to resolving a dispute by way of a full trial, it may be an option to apply for a summary judgment. The purpose of the summary judgment is to give judgment before trial to a plaintiff, where the defendant has no defence to the claim[i].
Continue Reading The Legal System and Civil Procedure for Commercial Dispute Resolution in Hong Kong (Part II of II)

By Renee Gu  King &  Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution Gourp

I．Introduction

Commercial disputes are inevitable in the commercial world. It is often crucial to find the most cost-effective and expeditious way to resolve the dispute.

Hong Kong is Asia’s most international city with a vibrant and cosmopolitan community where East meets West, the key attributes of which include a level playing field for entrepreneurs of all nationalities; an educated and skilled workforce; an unrivalled location as the gateway to China; the rule of law being upheld and respected by a clean government; low taxes funding world class infrastructure; a free flow of information; and international lifestyle[i].Continue Reading The Legal System and Civil Procedure for Commercial Dispute Resolution in Hong Kong (Part I of II)

作者：叶渌  罗必成  金杜律师事务所争议解决组

一、在仲裁地对裁决提出异议

相对于执行程序，争议解决的过程中获得一个令人满意的仲裁裁决相对容易一些，但即使裁定胜诉方获得经济赔偿，败诉方却拒绝支付时，胜诉方需要采取进一步措施以真正获得赔偿。其间每一个步骤都意味着败诉方可能会拒绝或延期支付。

即使执行程序开始之前，裁决债务人仍有机会阻止裁决债权人采取救济措施：对仲裁裁决提出异议的常见的方式是向仲裁委员会所在地的法院申请撤销裁决。Continue Reading 我能否在此饮茶在别处享用我的点心—-已被撤销的仲裁裁决能否在其他管辖中得以执行？

By Ariel Ye and James Rowland   King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution Group

I.        Challenging the award in the place of arbitration

Achieving a favorable arbitral award is sometimes the easy part of the dispute resolution process. Where the successful party is awarded money damages and the unsuccessful party resists payment, the successful party will still need to take further steps to actually obtain the money awarded. Each step will present the unsuccessful party with another opportunity to resist or delay payment.

Even before arriving at enforcement proceedings, there is a threshold opportunity for the award debtor to prevent the award creditor from securing its remedy: by challenging the award, usually in an ‘action to set aside’, before the national courts in the place of arbitration.Continue Reading Should Arbitral Awards That Have Been Set Aside Be Enforced in a Different Jurisdiction?