The State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly issued the Implementing Opinion on Several Issues in the Laws Applicable to the Examination and Approval, Registration and Administration of Foreign Investment Enterprises on 24 April 2006 ...
The State Council issued the Regulations of the People's Republic of China for the Administration of the Registration of Companies on 18 December 2005. The Regulations have replaced 1994 regulations of the same name with effect from 1 January 2006. The revisions to the Regulations bring the rules for company registration in line with the amended Company Law of the People’s Republic of China (“Company Law”) (as discussed in issue 2005.3 of China Legal Update) ...
The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) promulgated the Provisional Measures for the Administration of Processing Trade in Export Processing Zones on 22 November 2005. The Measures replace regulations of the same name with effect from 1 January 2006. Definitions The Provisional Measures define an export processing zone (“Zone”) as a specified area subject to closed supervision by the Customs ...
The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) promulgated the Measures for the Administration of International Freight Forwarding Enterprises with Foreign Investment on 19 October 2005. The Measures, which entered into force on 11 December 2005, repeal regulations of the same name and their supplementary regulations issued in 2003 ...
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE”) issued the Notice on Issues Relating to the Improvement of the Administration of Foreign Debt on 21 October 2005. The Notice entered into effect on 1 December 2005 and governs various aspects of the PRC regime for the control of foreign debt ...
The Supreme People’s Court promulgated the Regulations of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues in the Hearing of Cases Involving Disputes over Letters of Credit on 14 November 2005. The Regulations entered into effect on 1 January 2006 and provide clearer guidance not only on how PRC courts should deal with cases involving disputes over letters of credit (“LC disputes”) but also on the general operation of letters of credit (“LCs”) in China ...
The General Administration of Customs (“GAC”) issued the Measures of the Customs of the People’s Republic of China on Duty free Shops and Duty Free Goods on 28 November 2005. The Notice, which became effective on 1 January 2006, governs the establishment of duty free shops and the import and sale of duty free goods ...
The Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission (“GDRC”) promulgated the Provisional Measures for the Administration of the Verification of Foreign Investment Projects on 18 February 2006. The Provisional Measures are the local implementing rules for the Provisional Measures for the Administration of the Verification of Foreign Investment Projects promulgated by the State Development and Reform Commission (“SDRC”) on 9 October 2004 (“SDRC Measures”) ...
Lessons in Using Employee Non-Compete Agreements An increasing number of companies are requiring their employees (new and existing) to sign so-called “non-compete” agreements. Many of these agreements prohibit employees from working for their employer’s competitors for a period of time after the termination of employment. Some are less restrictive—prohibiting former employees from performing certain duties or dealing with the former employer’s customers ...
The considerable publicity surrounding the new Bankruptcy Act has focused on the impact of the legislation on individuals seeking bankruptcy relief under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.1 There are also important changes that will have a significant impact on business bankruptcy cases. The new provisions will require suppliers, lenders, debtors, landlords and other constituents to rethink strategies that have previously been routinely employed in business bankruptcy cases ...
Recently, in Clark v. DaimlerChrysler Corp., the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that an employee’s lawsuit for age discrimination under the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) was timebarred because of the six-month limitations period contained in the employee’s job application. The court upheld the contractual limitations period at issue even though the ELCRA explicitly provided that an individual has three years to bring a claim under that statute ...
This quarterly newsletter summarizes some of the recent administrative actions that will go into effect this year and which will impact funds and their advisers, beginning with the EDGAR requirements that mutual funds and separate account issuers designate new codes for each series and class when making their EDGAR filings ...
EDGAR Identifiers for Series and Classes Last July, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to Regulation S-T to require mutual funds and insurance company separate accounts issuing variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance products to obtain identifiers and electronically identify in their filings made through the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system to which of their series or classes the filing relates. See Rel. No ...
features 1. Modification of the Requirements for banks'shareholders. 2. Fiscal incentives for the development of the Forest Sector. 3. The unconstitutionality of the Bankcruptcy process in Nicaragua. 4. Right of priority. 5. Modernizing Legal procedures in Real Estate transactions. 6. Closing activities in the acquisition of properties. 7 ...
The 'moral hazard' provisions introduced by the Pensions Act 2004 could cause extra headaches for many corporate transactions unless steps are taken early to avoid potential pitfalls. Parties involved in corporate mergers, takeovers or even group restructurings may now need prior clearance from the Pensions Regulator to avoid being potentially liable for contributing towards a deficit in the defined benefit pension scheme of the target or investee company ...
There have been fresh developments in the continuing battle between pharmaceutical manufacturers and parallel importers. National and European courts have been attempting to strike a balance between the principle of the free movement of goods within the EU and the legitimate protection of intellectual property rights. The most recent contribution has come from Advocate General Sharpston (AG) in her opinion in the ongoing case of Boehringer and others v Swingward and Dowelhurst (C-348/04) ...
A distribution franchise agreement allows a producer of goods or services (the “Franchisor”) to transfer to another entity (the “Franchisee”), in return of a fee, the commercialisation of such products under the Franchisor’s trade mark(s) and distinctive signs, in conformity with its uniform business method and upon the provision, by the Franchisor to the Franchisee, of technical know how and regular assistance ...
The commercial distribution of goods and services developed with the dynamics between sophisticated global markets, where the European Internal Market is integrated, with traditional markets of a local character or national dimension. The type of contract adopted by the producers or importer companies in order for their products or services to reach, through the commercial intermediaries, the final users – consumers or not – i. e ...
On 2 November 2005, the Legislative Council enacted the Revenue (Abolition of Estate Duty) Ordinance ("RAEDO"). It came into operation on 11 February 2006. RAEDO, among other things: (i) abolishes estate duty as proposed in the 2005 - 2006 Budget; and (ii) empowers the Secretary for Home Affairs ("SHA") to release money from bank accounts of deceased persons and allow inspection of bank safe deposit boxes ...
Under the Rules Governing Offshore Funds of August 2005, private placement of offshore funds may only be offered to: a) banks, bills companies, securities companies, trust companies, insurance companies, financial holding companies or other legal entities or organisation approved by the Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC); b) not more than 35 “private investors” ...
The Law Reform Commission (Commission) published a report on 25 October 2005 recommending proposals to reform the doctrine of privity of contract in Hong Kong. The aim of the reform is to allow a person who is not a party to a contract to enforce the contract if that was the intent of the contracting parties. Under the existing doctrine of privity of contract, a person cannot acquire and enforce rights under a contract to which he is not a party ...
Investors, investment managers and others with direct or attributed interests of 5% or more of any Hong Kong listed company are subject to Hong Kong’s substantial shareholder disclosure regime. Inadvertent breaches of the regime are common, largely because of its complexity and investors’ misapprehensions of the requirements. A review of enforcement actions over the last year indicates an increasingly aggressive approach by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) ...
