News & Insights

There are increasing numbers of cases brought to the Court by litigants in person. Some of the claimants may have all along been legally represented with or without legal aid but at some point of time, become unrepresented for various reasons. Amongst these unrepresented claimants, some have been criticized by the Court to be claiming excessive employees’ compensation and common law damages for injuries at work from their employers.

For a long time, the Letter of No Consent (“LNC”) in Hong Kong was a practical instrument for law enforcement agents to freeze bank accounts suspected of holding illicit funds. Various ordinances, including the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (“OSCO”), the Drug Trafficking (Recovery of Proceeds) Ordinance (“DTRPO”), and the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance (“UNATMO”) prohibit individuals from engaging in transactions involving property which they have knowledge or reasonable grounds to believe that the same represents proceeds from criminal activity.

In Hong Kong, the regulatory framework requires each listed company to have a minimum of three independent non-executive directors (“INED(s)”) on its board of directors (the “Board”), who should collectively represent at least one-third of the Board.

The interplay between insolvency proceedings and arbitration clauses has been a longstanding dilemma that has attracted much legal debate. Indeed, the question of whether a winding-up petition, or the arbitration clause that the parties have contracted into should take priority, is not an easy question to answer, given the conflicting policy considerations in the statutory insolvency regime and the privately negotiated arbitration process.

Hong Kong has long been recognized as a leading global financial hub, attracting both domestic and international applicants and investors. In its continued efforts to support and encourage listings of small and/or medium sized enterprises (“SME”), a consultation paper was published by the HKEX on 26 September 2023 proposing reforms to be made to the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the GEM of HKEX (the “GEM Listing Rules”), followed with consultation conclusions published by the HKEX on 15 December 2023. Such reforms have taken effect on 1 January 2024. This article will discuss the key changes applicable to intended and presently listed GEM issuers.

People often make gifts to others out of love, affection, appreciation, or for other noble reasons. When it comes to personal chattels, gifting is relatively straightforward and can be as simple as a handover. But what happens when the gift is a real property?

With the immense popularity of Hollywood blockbuster movies that are sweeping the globe, it is not surprising to see businesses attempting to attract and turn the massive fandoms into their own customer base by borrowing some of the well-liked characters, scenes and elements surrounding such movies.

To heighten the attractiveness for family offices to establish a presence in Hong Kong, the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Tax Concessions for Family-owned Investment Holding Vehicles) Ordinance 2023 (the “Amendment Ordinance”) came into operation in Hong Kong on 19 May 2023.

Gazetted on 30 June 2023, the Family Procedure Ordinance (Cap. 646) (“FPO”) is a much-anticipated relief to family practitioners in Hong Kong, who have been waiting for a set of consolidated and centralized procedural rules to family and matrimonial proceedings across the Family Court and the High Court since the presentation of the Final Report regarding the Review of Family Procedure Rules in May 2015, and the conclusion of the public consultation on the draft Bill in April 2022.