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By  Patrick Gunning, Kate Jackson-Maynes, Nick Valentine and Charles Davies  King & Wood Mallesons’ Sydney office.

The payments mix is increasingly digital…

The use of cash and cheques is diminishing in modern economies. Traditional payment cards are being challenged by digital wallets.

Payments systems rely on network infrastructure…

To support many-to-many payments, there must be network infrastructure to which payment service providers have access. Competition amongst service providers should lead to greater choice for users of the payment system.
Continue Reading 10 things you need to know about digital payments

By Joanne Strain, Parnika Chaturvedi King & Wood Mallesons’ Dubai office. 

Arbitration agreements frequently impose preconditions to arbitration, requiring the parties to engage in a sequential combination of mediation, conciliation, good faith negotiations, and/or other such mechanisms, prior to initiating arbitration.

While often well intended, so as to cause the parties to pause before initiating formal dispute resolution, and potentially avoid unnecessary costs and time on proceedings, all too often, by the point a dispute has materialised, formal dispute resolution is the only answer.

In those circumstances, the pre-conditions can become a headache: compliance is vital (as failure could be fatal to any proceedings) but the terms of pre-conditions can be vague.
Continue Reading Waterfalls in the Gulf: Pre-conditions to arbitration

By Wu Wei, Zhu Yuanyuan King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution group

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral financial institution that aims to bring financial support to infrastructure building in Asia. Certainly, AIIB will play an important role in the Belt and Road related projects.

Since its founding on December 25th, 2015, the AIIB has approved nine financing projects with a total commitment of $1.7 billion. The AIIB will continue to expand its operations by  additional investments in the near future. 
Continue Reading Joining the AIIB Projects—What You Must Know about Affiliated Debarment and Cross-Debarment

By Christian Cornett(partner)，Sandra Link(Partner)，Tilmann-Becker(Counsel). King & Wood Mallesons’ Frankfurt office.

“In 2017, various elements of neo-protectionism have materialised globally, some of which have directly influenced China-outbound investments. While in the US, the committee on foreign investments in the US (CFIUS) has undergone some changes, in the European Union, plans for a new regime on foreign investment in strategic European targets is under consideration (CFIEU).  Meanwhile, motivated also by a substantial discussions in the Germany press following the acquisition of some German targets by Chinese investors such as Midea’s acquisition of KUKA – and a few months ahead of the upcoming German election – the German minister of economics has decided to implement a first step by tightening the administrative proceedings regarding foreign investment control. The attached paper sheds some light on these changes.” 
Continue Reading New German Regulation on Foreign Investment Control

By Wu Wei, Zhu Yuanyuan King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution group

On May 14th and 15th, the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held in Beijing, which once again put the city at the centre of global attention.

China is a founding member of the Belt and Road (“B&R”). It already has more than 80 SOEs setting up branches in countries along the B&R and 47 SOE’s participating in 1676 construction projects. The B&R presents both opportunities and challenges to Chinese enterprises. Chinese firms will need to meet high standards to avoid breaching compliance requirements.
Continue Reading Participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, Protected from Overseas Compliance Risks

By Wu Wei, Liu Ting, Zhu Yuanyuan King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution group

Multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank, enforce strict compliance procedures for their borrowers, along with regulations on investigations and sanctions for non-compliance. Being blacklisted by these banks has significant negative consequences (please refer to the related articles Participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, Protected from Overseas Compliance Risks, Joining the AIIB Projects—What You Must Know about Affiliated Debarment and Cross-Debarment).  Taking an active role in proceedings may prevent an enterprise from being sanctioned.
Continue Reading Blacklisted by the World Bank, How Can Firms Participate in the Belt and Road?

By Georgia Mullins. King & Wood Mallesons’ Melbourne office.

In a decision highlighting employer’s obligations to employees with a mental illness, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has found an employer failed to provide due process to an incapacitated employee after misconstruing his extended absence from work on certified sick leave as a refusal to work.
Continue Reading Incapacity to work is not a refusal to work

By Scott Farrell, Urszula McCormack, Stanley Zhou  King & Wood Mallesons

ICOs sell blockchain tokens (or coins)…

A token is an intangible asset stored on a blockchain which entitles a token holder to a bundle of rights (and possibly liabilities) set out in smart contracts and other relevant documentation (such as an offering document or a whitepaper).

… in a way like IPOs …

ICOs are inspired by IPOs. Like an IPO, tokens which have not been available to the public previously are generally offered to raise a set amount of funds, within a defined period of time. Once purchased, the token may be able to be traded on exchanges accessible by the public.
Continue Reading 10 things you need to know about Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)

By Malcolm Brennan, Stephen Brightman King & Wood Mallesons’ Canberra office.

 
An array of changes to Australia’s foreign investment framework took effect from 1 July 2017 under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Amendment (Exemptions and Other Measures) Regulations 2017 (Cth). The amendments will be of particular interest to private equity sponsors, and industry players in the renewables, aged care, student accommodation and other commercial real estate sectors. They will impact the types of acquisitions requiring FIRB approval, as well as introducing new types of exemption certificates. 
Continue Reading FIRB Reforms Reducing Red Tape Take Effect from 1 July 2017

By Huang Jianwen King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory group

The Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries (2017 Revision) (the “2017 Catalogue“) was issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce on 28 June 2017. It will come into force on 28 July 2017 and the Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries (2015 Revision) (the “2015 Catalogue“) will be abolished therefrom.
Continue Reading The New “Negative List”for Foreign Investment