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By King & Wood Mallesons

On February 20, 2018, Yunfeng Fund signed the agreement with MicroPort Scientific Corporation (“MicroPort”, HK:853), a medical company listed in Hong Kong, jointly acquiring cardiac rhythm management business (CRM business) of LivaNova PLC in the United Kingdom by funding MicroPort Cardiac Rhythm B.V. (“MicroPort Cardiac”). The business mainly includes R&D, manufacture and sale of pacemakers, defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization devices with the purchase price of 190 million U.S. dollars. Upon completion of the acquisition, Yunfeng Fund will indirectly hold 25% of the CRM business through MicroPort Cardiac.
Continue Reading King & Wood Mallesons advises Yunfeng Fund and MicroPort jointly acquired LivaNova PLC’s cardiac rhythm management business ranking fifth largest in the world

By Monique Carroll King & Wood Mallesons’ Melbourne office

Our recent experience shows that a surprising number of Australian companies (big and small) are failing to insert arbitration clauses into their contracts when the counter-party does not have a presence in Australia. In most cases, this means that the contract will not be enforceable against the counter-party should they act in breach of it. If your business has not developed a strategy or understanding for using arbitration clauses in contracts with a cross-border element – please continue reading.
Continue Reading Overseas Express丨AU Insight: Not Using Arbitration? Beware!

By Alex Baykitch AM, Robert Edel and Edwina Kwan.

On 24 January 2018, the senate of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) unanimously passed a bill which, once enacted, will increase taxes on natural resources in the DRC and revoke contract guarantees for existing mining projects across the country.

The bill is likely to have a significant impact on international investors in the mining industry who will be immediately subject to higher royalties and a tax on “super-profits”.  Although the bill will not take effect until President Joseph Kabila signs it into law, this is expected to happen imminently unless miners and lobbyists are successful in convincing the President to suspend the adoption of the bill.
Continue Reading Democratic Republic of Congo set to increase taxes on natural resources and revoke guarantees for mining companies

By Mark Schaub Atticus Zhao King & Wood Mallesons’ Corporate group

On 27 February 2018, Shanghai Municipal Economic Information Commission (SMEIC), Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau (SMPSB) and Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission (SMTC) jointly issued the Shanghai Regulations on Intelligent and Connected Vehicles Road Testing (Trial) (“Shanghai Regulations”)[1]. 
Continue Reading Shanghai Issues Regulations on Self-driving Cars Road Testing

By Matthew Austin, Mark Upfold, Katherine Vines and Josh Saville. King & Wood Mallesons

Regulation has often been the tool of choice when it comes to managing water given its status as an important natural resource in Australia. Over the coming years water regulation in Australia is set to continue on a path of further reform, with a wide range of Federal, State and Territory reforms recently announced in a bid to shape the regulatory landscape, provide fresh market opportunities and see new infrastructure projects delivered.

This alert provides an overview of current water reforms and initiatives across Australia.  For more information or to discuss any of the items mentioned in this alert, please contact any one of our KWM water contacts.
Continue Reading Australian Water – A stream of reviews and reforms in the pipeline

By Chen Yun (Robert), Wang Rong and Chai Beibei King & Wood Mallesons’ Finance & Capital Markets group

On February 13, 2018, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (the “CBRC”) promulgated the Decision on Amending the CBRC’s Implementation Measures for the Administrative Licensing Matters of Foreign-Invested Banks (CBRC Order 2018 No. 3, the “Order No.3”). Following a series of regulations and policies relating to opening-up of the banking industry issued in 2017 (the “2017 Regulations and Policies”), the Order No.3 is considered to be a further step of great significance for the purpose of implementing the general principles of further expanding opening-up, improving the levels of opening-up of the banking industry and streamlining administration and delegating more powers to lower-level authorities continuously.
Continue Reading Further Opening-up for Foreign-Invested Banks

By Mark Schaub and Saren Abgaryan

The move towards autonomous cars will herald a sea change that will reach far beyond the automotive sector alone.

What could be more exciting than a sector in which major car manufacturers such as Audi, Daimler, Toyota, BMW, Nissan, Volvo rub shoulders with new electric vehicle manufacturers such as Tesla and are also vying with established tech giants such as Google, Baidu, Apple, Samsung, Tencent and competing with new tech such as ride hailing companies such as Didi and Uber?
Continue Reading Blockchain: An Achilles Boot for Self-driving Cars?

By King & Wood Mallesons

On 22 February 2018, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) partner Mr. Gao Feng has been named to 2018 China TOP 15 Litigators by Asian Legal Business (ALB) for his excellent performance and wide recognition by clients.  ALB China research team annually selects the top 15 litigators in China who are representative and influential in the industry based on their high-profile cases, clients’ recommendations and feedback from the market.
Continue Reading King & Wood Mallesons Partner Gao Feng named among 2018 ALB China TOP 15 Litigators

By Jiang Junlu and Wu Mengqiu  King & Wood Mallesons‘ Commercial & Regulatory group

According to the report of Legal Daily on October 24th, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (the “Legislative Affairs Commission”) respectively sent letters to five local people’s congresses in Guangdong, Yunnan, Jiangxi, Hainan and Fujian. It is suggested that these congresses amend provisions of local regulations on population and family planning based on the reality of each province, regarding the dismissal or termination of employment contracts with employees who have more children than that are allowed by the Law on Population and Family Planning (the “Family Planning Law”) (“unplanned childbirth”). 
Continue Reading Yes or No: Dismissal Based on Unplanned Childbirth