By Denis Brock Stuart Valentine KingandWoodMallesons’ Hong Kong Office

The English High court’s decision in McManus & Ors v European Risk Insurance Co[i] indicates that the blanket notification of claims (or of circumstances which might give rise to a claim) is likely to be sufficient to trigger an insurance policy. It also highlights the need for an insured to promptly notify claims or circumstances when they first discover them. Continue Reading The blanket approach – Green light given to “catch-all” insurance notifications

By Susan Ning, Liu Jia and Hazel Yin

On 22 February, 2013, Guizhou Provincial Pricing Administration (“Guizhou Pricing Administration”) released the decision to impose a penalty of RMB 247 million (about USD 39.8 million) on Kweichow Moutai, the most famous Chinese state-owned producer of premium liquor, for administering resale price maintenance (“RPM”).  On the same day, Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission (“Sichuan PDRC”) released its decision to penalize Wuliangye, another state-owned premium liquor producer, in an amount of RMB 202 million (about USD 32.6 million) for RPM as well.  Both agencies are local counterparts of the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”), which is charged with the responsibility to enforce against price-related monopoly agreements, including RPM under the Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”).

The news has made a huge stir, because this is the first time the Chinese AML enforcement agencies penalized RPM under the AML.  Besides, the two fines add up to RMB 449 million (about USD 72.4 million) in total, the largest penalty in China’s AML enforcement history so far. Continue Reading Chinese Antitrust Authorities Imposed Large Fines on Kweichow Moutai and Wuliangye for Resale Price Maintenance

作者：尤杨、蔺楷毅、赵之涵 金杜律师事务所争议解决组

2013年1月1日，经第二次修订的《中华人民共和国民事诉讼法》（下称“《民事诉讼法》”）正式施行。与修订前相比，《民事诉讼法》在第十五章“特别程序”中增加了关于实现担保物权的内容，规定担保物权人及其他有权请求实现担保物权的人，可以不经诉讼程序，直接向人民法院提出申请实现担保物权。据媒体报道，2013年1月11日浙江省温州市鹿城区人民法院即根据以上规定，做出全国第一份直接实现担保物权的《民事裁定书》（据笔者的了解，事实上自《物权法》颁布实行后，上海地区的一些基层法院早在本次《民事诉讼法》修订之前既已办理过通过特别程序实现担保物权的案件）。

笔者认为，直接实现担保物权的特别程序对信托计划的兑付纠纷争议解决具有非常重要的意义 Continue Reading 信托实务专题之（四）：应对信托计划兑付危机的新途径——浅析实现担保物权特别程序

作者：熊进 鲁婷婷 陈艾婧 金杜律师事务所公司并购组

一、 前言

北京市发展和改革委员会（“北京发改委”）于2013年1月15日发布了《关于进一步简化企业境外投资项目管理程序有关工作的通知》（京发改规〔2013〕2号，下称“《通知》”），进一步简化对地方国营和民营实施的企业境外投资项目的管理程序。

与现行的企业境外投资项目管理政策相比，《通知》对由北京发改委审核批准的境外投资项目在项目管理程序方面进一步进行了简化，主要体现在以下四个方面： Continue Reading 北京市发改委颁布新规，进一步简化境外投资项目管理

By Denis Brock   Stuart Valentine  Jansy Man  King and Wood Mallesons’ Hong Kong office

The recent decision of Re AXA (Hong Kong) Life Insurance Co Ltd[i] highlights the Court’s role in the transfer of a Hong Kong long term insurance business. In this instance, the Court approved the intra-group transfer of AXA (Hong Kong) Life Insurance Company Limited’s (“AXA HK”) long term business to AXA China Region Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited (“AXA CRIB”). Continue Reading Court as gatekeeper – the transfer of long term insurance business in Hong Kong

作者：熊进 冯彩红 刘青 高纬 金杜律师事务所并购组

国家外汇管理局于2012年11月19日发布了《关于进一步改进和调整直接投资外汇管理政策的通知》（汇发[2012]59号，下称“《通知》”），大幅简化直接投资外汇管理流程。《通知》的出台响应了国务院于2012年9月23日颁布的《国务院关于第六批取消和调整行政审批项目的决定》（国发[2012]52号）中规定的推进行政审批制度改革并进一步取消和调整行政审批项目的要求，也反映了中国巨额外汇储备的背景下进一步放松外汇监管的趋势。《通知》将于2012年12月17日开始实施，有望对外商投资和境内企业境外投资流程产生较大影响。

一、 主要调整概述

与现行直接投资外汇管理政策相比，《通知》在监管流程方面有较大的改进，将部分审批事项调整为登记事项，通过登记来监管外汇资金的流动与汇兑额度。 Continue Reading 外汇局颁布新规，进一步放松直接投资外汇管理

By Xiong Jin, Feng Caihong, Liu Qing and Wei Kao  King and Wood Mallesons’ Mergers & Acquisitions Group

On November 19, 2012, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”) promulgated the Circular Regarding Further Improvement and Adjustment of Policies on Foreign Exchange Administration of Direct Investment (Hui Fa [2002] No. 59, the “Circular”) which aims to dramatically simplify foreign exchange administration procedures concerning inbound and outbound direct investment. The Circular is a response to a directive to reduce administrative approvals in the Decision of the State Council on the Sixth Abolishment and Adjustment of Administrative Examination and Approval Projects (Guo Fa [2012] No. 52) promulgated by the State Council on 23 September 2012, and it also reflects a trend of relaxing foreign exchange supervision given China’s accumulation of major foreign exchange reserves. The Circular will be become effective on December 17, 2012 and is expected to have a significant impact on foreign direct investment and outbound investment by domestic enterprises. Continue Reading SAFE Issues New Rules to Further Relax the Foreign Exchange Controls over Direct Investment

By Denning Jin King and Wood Mallesons’ IP Litigation Group

Introduction

Fair and equitable treatment (FET) originated from the Havana Charter of 1948 and the adoption of the FET standard accelerated in the late 1960s and in the 1970s when it was widely incorporated in bilateral investment treaties. By the end of 2009, 2,750 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) have been concluded,[i] and the vast majority have incorporated FET together with other standards such as full protection and security, using very similar language, as a safeguard against violations by the host state.[ii] However, it was not until the early twenty-first century that FET was applied in investor-state arbitral jurisprudence,[iii] where claimants lodged claims and tribunals found host state liability based on FET. Continue Reading Fair and Equitable Treatment – Should the Standard be Differentiated According to Level of Development, Government Capacity and Resources of Host Countries?

作者：韦理察  金杜律师事务所知识产权法律事务组

当今中国，为发展企业标识投入大量资源的企业，在商标权利的行使和保护领域遇到了越来越多的问题。首先，企业的注册商标在未经授权的情况下被伪造者使用在相同或相似的商品上。另外，许多公司和个人在中国注册知名品牌的标识，构成“商标侵权”或“商标抢注”。一些商标侵权者试图利用知名品牌标识的品牌价值“搭便车”，而恶意抢注者可能向品牌所有者索要高额标识转让费用。然而，如果国外品牌商委托中国的贴牌加工企业（Original Equipment Manufacturer，“OEM”）代工生产专供出口产品，而该国外委托方的品牌标识已被中国第三方企业注册，这种代工行为是否构成对中国商标所有权人的商标侵权?

《中华人民共和国商标法》[i]（“《商标法》”）为商标权利合法持有人提供了可以利用的法律保护框架。商标法于1982年通过，在1993年和2001年进行了两次修订。 Continue Reading 最高人民法院为OEM贴牌加工专供出口产品是否属于“商标使用行为”提供指导意见

By Susan Ning, Hazel Yin and Yunlong Zhang

The year 2012 marks the fifth year of the enactment and implementation of China’s Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”).  Over the past year, we have witnessed substantial progress of the merger control regime and antitrust administrative investigations, in particular in the area of cartel investigations.  With the promulgation of judicial interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court, antitrust civil litigations are also picking up.  As the Year of Dragon is coming to an end, we present this article with an overview of how the AML has been implemented in the past year, together with our observations.  

I. Merger Control

The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”), the authority in charge of merger control review, maintained a similar caseload in 2012 compared to 2011 and has been gradually establishing its international reputation as one of the most important antitrust authorities.   Continue Reading The Anti-Monopoly Law of China: What We Have Seen in 2012?