By Kenneth Choy, Partner, Corporate, King & Wood – Hong Kong
“Chow Sang Sang” (周生生) is a successful and well recognized name in the jewelry business. The name in Chinese has an auspicious meaning of “continuous growth” or “endless vitality of the Chow family”.
Continue Reading Family Feud in Hong Kong: Chow Sang Sang Trademark Dispute
By John Lo, Partner, Corporate, King & Wood – Hong Kong
Angel investment in Hong Kong may be on the verge of an exciting transition from being an occasional engagement of a wealthy few to a more widespread, organized form of startup financing involving many more people with the wherewithal to invest.
Continue Reading Angel Investing in Hong Kong: Part I Introduction
King & Wood’s IP Legal Group in Beijing
The Domain Name Dispute Settlement Center of CIETAC was established in December, 2000, and began operation on July, 2005, as the Internet Disputes Settlement Center. This Center accepts cases including cybersquatting of domain names (disputes on Chinese domain names, e.g. ".cn", and top-level general domain name, e.g.".com"), cybersquatting of general websites, wireless websites, text message websites, etc.
By Stephen Nelson, Partner and Head of King & Wood’s Taxation Practice
It is not uncommon for foreign investors to sell the shares of intermediate holding companies that hold the equity in Chinese companies as a way to exit their investments in China, in order to get around government approval procedures, as well as to avoid PRC tax on their capital gains. It certainly appears that these offshore transfers may be examined by the China tax authorities going forward, and may no longer escape the Chinese tax net. Recently, the State Administration of Taxation (the “SAT”) issued the circular Guoshuihan [2009] No. 698, “Strengthening the Tax Administration of Equity Transfers by Non-resident Enterprises” ("Circular 698”), which, for the first time, explicitly requires disclosure to the tax authorities of offshore indirect transfers of equity in PRC companies. The tax authorities may then examine the transferred offshore holding company in order to ascertain whether the structure has a reasonable commercial purpose – if not, the offshore gain could be held subject to Chinese tax.
Continue Reading Offshore Equity Transfers – Next Target for PRC Tax Anti-avoidance Attack
林燊，金杜律师事务所税务主管合伙人
过去实践中，为了绕过中国商务局、税务局等部门的审核监管，境外投资方通常会考虑采用转让设在境外（例如BVI, 香港）的控股公司的股权而达到转让国内企业股权的目的。时过境迁，这种做法现在很有可能会受到中国税务机关的挑战。近日，国家税务总局下发《关于加强非居民企业股权转让所得企业所得税管理的通知》（国税函[2009]698号，简称“698号文”），该文件第一次将间接转让（即前述的转让境外控股公司）以明文规定的形式纳入中国税务审查的范畴。税务机关将审查境外股权结构是否具有合理商业目的，如果没有，那么转让境外股权取得的资本利得仍有可能需要在中国缴税。因此，这将对境外控股公司架构及境外并购重组交易产生重大影响。
By Mark Schaub, Partner, Corporate, King & Wood – Shanghai
Three consumer credit companies have obtained regulatory approval for their establishment from the China Banking Regulatory commission (CBRC). The main shareholder in each of these consumer credit companies are domestic banks namely Bank of China (BOC), Bank of Beijing and Bank of Chengdu.
Continue Reading Days of Easy Credit Dawning? Consumer Credit Companies Arrive in China
By Kenneth Choy, Partner, Intellectual Property, King & Wood – Hong Kong
Last month, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the closely followed case of Bilski v. Kappos, 08-964. The case concerns a patent application for hedging risk in commodities trading. Both the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected the claims. In reaching its decision, the Federal Circuit ruled that to be eligible for a patent, a process claim must be tied to a particular machine or it must transform an article into a different state or thing. The court said that this ‘machine or transformation’ test is the only test for determining patent eligibility of process claims.
Continue Reading Bilski v. Kappos, the end of the ‘Machine or Transformation Test’?
By Zhang Yi, Partner, & Alan Du, Counsel, Corporate Group, Shanghai
The Administrative Measures for Establishment of Partnership Enterprises in China by Foreign Enterprises or Individuals (the “Measures”) was issued by State Council on 2 December 2009. The Measures, effective from 1 March 2010, will allow foreign investors to directly act as partners of partnerships in China.
Continue Reading Measures for Foreign Invested Partnerships Issued: Has the Door Opened?
林燊，金杜律师事务所税务主管合伙人
中国政府对境外控股公司的反避税管理又向前迈进了一步。国家税务总局日前下发文件，即《关于如何理解和认定税收协定中”受益所有人”的通知》（国税函[2009]601号，简称“601号文”），指导地方税务机关调查认定申请人是否满足“受益所有人”的条件，以决定申请人能否享受税收协定中有关股息、利息、特许权使用费、财产转让收益等优惠待遇。该文件的发布引起广泛关注，跨境交易的税务筹划及利用境外控股公司享受税收协定优惠的安排将受到很大限制。
By Stephen Nelson, Partner and Head of King & Wood’s Taxation Practice
China’s crack down on tax anti-avoidance took another major step forward with the release of a new Circular by the SAT which may severely restrict the ability of offshore holding companies to take advantage of tax treaty benefits. The SAT’s “Notice on Interpretation and Determination of Beneficial Owner under Tax Treaties” (Guoshuihan [2009] No. 601, or “Circular 601”), directs local tax authorities to investigate whether an applicant satisfies the requirements to qualify as a beneficial owner, which is a pre-requisite to enjoy the benefit of a reduced withholding tax on dividends, interest, royalties or capital gains under a double tax arrangement.
Continue Reading China Launches Latest Attack on Offshore Holding Companies