In brief A recent decision of the Hong Kong Court reaffirmed the robust approach taken by the Court in examining the enforceability of a non-compete clause in an employment context even at the interim-interim stage. A former employer has the burden of proof to adduce evidence to substantiate that a non-compete clause is reasonable and necessary for the protection of the former employer’s legitimate business interests for it to be enforceable. The Court will take…
In brief On 10 April 2024, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (CFA), Hong Kong’s highest court, delivered its judgment in Tam Sze Leung & Ors v Commissioner of Police [2024] HKCFA 8, affirming the validity of the ‘No Consent Regime’ (“Regime”) of the Hong Kong Police (“Police”). As we set out in our previous alerts (here, here and here), the Regime encompassed a practice of issuing “Letters of No Consent” (LNCs) to financial institutions for customer accounts that…
In brief When would the directors of a company be bound to consider the interest of the company’s creditors? This was the issue at the heart of the Singapore Court of Appeal’s (SGCA) watershed decision in Foo Kian Beng v OP3 International Pte Ltd (in liquidation) [2024] SGCA 10, which comes hot on the heels of the UK Supreme Court’s pronouncements on the same issue in BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA and others [2022] UKSC 25. In a…
A spotlight on enforcement and litigation risks In brief ESG is increasingly of prioritised concern to companies and organisations due to a growing number of legislations and regulations as well as awareness of ESG issues. Across jurisdictions, we see a rising trend towards more active ESG enforcement and litigation. In our The Year Ahead: Global Disputes Forecast 2024,[1] nearly three-quarters (73%) of the respondents said that environmental, social and governance (ESG) disputes presented as the…
New legislation passed which will put onus on companies – when did your company last undertake a risk assessment on corruption? In brief The Australian government has, after many years of deliberation, passed the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Bill 2023 (“Bill”) which introduces a new indictable corporate offence of failing to prevent foreign bribery. This offence will apply where an associate of a company has committed bribery in relation to a foreign public official for…
In brief On 18 January 2024, the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) issued its decision in Re PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk [2024] SGHC(I) (“Re Garuda Indonesia”), which was the SICC’s first decision on an application under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (as enacted in Singapore in the Third Schedule of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (2020 Rev Ed) (“Singapore Model Law”)). In a landmark judgment, the SICC granted recognition and enforcement of…
In brief On 29 January 2024, the Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“Arrangement”) has taken effect simultaneously in both Hong Kong and the Mainland. The Arrangement establishes the mechanism for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters between the Mainland and Hong Kong. Certain procedural steps must be taken by…
In brief This recent Court of First Instance judgment ([2023] HKCFI 2932) is another unsuccessful judicial review against the decision of the Listing Review Committee (LRC) of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited to impose disciplinary sanctions on two independent non-executive directors (INED) (“Applicants”) of a listed company (“ListCo”). These applications remain to be an uphill battle. In June 2023, the LRC upheld the Listing Committee’s decision that the Applicants should be publicly censured…
On 1 September 2023, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress released the amendments to the PRC Civil Procedure Law (“2021 CPL”) which will take effect from 1 January 2024 (“2024 CPL”). Among these amendments, there are considerable changes in respect of foreign-related litigation, including the PRC courts’ jurisdiction over foreign-related disputes, parallel proceedings, service of process, nationality of arbitral awards and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. Wider scope of PRC courts’ jurisdiction…
In brief On 20 June 2023, the National Assembly (NA) passed the Law on Protection of Consumers’ Rights (amended) (“New LPCR”), with an effective date of 1 July 2024, superseding the current Law on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights No. 59/2010/QH12 (“LPCR 2010”). The New LPCR includes seven Chapters and 80 articles under which many proposed critical changes have been officially adopted. This law also addresses various issues that will have direct impacts on onshore and…