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?

By Antitrust & Competition Group

On 23 December 2013, the All China Lawyers Association (ACLA) announced the establishment of the Antitrust Committee, showing that antitrust law has been recognized by the legal community in China as an important segment of the Chinese legal system.

The ACLA is the association of all admitted PRC lawyers.  It was established in 1986 according to the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Lawyers.  The newly established Antitrust Committee is one of the 22 professional committees under the ACLA.  Professional committees are responsible for providing guidance to lawyers regarding their practice, providing opinions and suggestions in the legislation process, and organizing workshops and conferences for communication of the latest development of the law.  We believe that the Antitrust Committee will provide a platform among antitrust practitioners, enforcement agencies, the judiciary and the academics and will play an active role in facilitating development of antitrust law in China. Continue Reading All China Lawyers Association Launched Antitrust Committee

作者：郑志斌、张婷 金杜律师事务所破产、重组与清算组

我国立法规定重整期间以管理人管理模式为原则，实践中绝大多数重整公司都是采用这种模式。具体到上市公司，截至2011年12月31日，中国已有34家上市公司进入重整程序，宏盛科技、中核钛白目前还未明确管理模式，其余32家公司中只有6家公司采取了债务人自行管理模式 ，其余26家公司都是管理人管理模式。管理人掌握公司的经营控制权，使原有股东大会、董事会和监事会的职权发生变化，董事会与经营管理层的委托代理关系中断，从而使股东丧失了控制公司的渠道。

（一）管理人行使重整期间的经营控制权

1、管理人取代原董事会的主要职权

根据《破产法》规定，管理人职权包括：接管债务人的财产、印章和账簿、文书等资料；调查债务人财产状况，制作财产状况报告； Continue Reading 管理人管理模式下公司控制权的变化——公司重整制度中的股东权益系列五

作者:郑志斌、张婷 金杜律师事务所破产、重组与清算组

根据《破产法》的规定，法院在重整程序中起着重要作用，重整期间的重大事项几乎都需要法院最终确认。法院全面监督管理人、债务人履行职责，即使债权人会议未表决通过重整计划，法院也可以依法强制批准，法院还能够决定重整的最终走向，在一定条件下，法院可不经利害关系人申请，直接裁定终止重整程序，宣告债务人破产。可以说，法院可能从来没有像在重整程序中如此全面、具体地介入到公司治理结构之中。根据我国《破产法》，法院职权可以归纳为以下几个方面：

1、对重整中主要法定程序拥有决策权

对于重整申请法院依法进行审查，有权决定重整程序能否启动。在受理重整申请后，只要在程序终结前，如果经审查发现债务人不符合法律规定的受理条件的，法院都可以裁定驳回申请。 Continue Reading 法院在重整程序中的地位——公司重整制度中的股东权益系列四

作者：尤杨、蔺楷毅、赵之涵 金杜律师事务所争议解决组

前言：信托兑付方面的案件近年呈上升趋势，相关业务由于出风险较多，也是媒体和法律界比较热门热门的话题，本专题拟集中探讨信托兑付领域的法律争议问题和实务中对各类风险和争议的处理技巧。

一、信托计划有关《支付协议》类文本的作用和意义

信托公司在设立信托计划时，经常会与融资方、融资方实际控制人等就将来债务偿还事宜办理强制执行公证（下称“强执公证”）。强执公证对于信托公司的好处显而易见：一旦交易对手不按期履约或履约不适当，信托公司无需通过诉讼程序即可直接向公证机构申请出具执行证书，进而向人民法院申请强制执行。 Continue Reading 信托实务专题之（一）：信托计划有关《支付协议》类文件的起草原则和技巧