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Legal Updates
Hong Kong Court Upholds a Jurisdictional Challenge to an Arbitral Award Based on Newly Introduced Evidence of Market Manipulation
In an important recent decision, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance upheld a jurisdictional challenge to an arbitral award in R v A, B and C [2023] HKCFI 2034. The jurisdictional issues concerned a third party (“Ma”) who sought to replace the claimant (“Rise”)…Read More
Notice-ably Wrong: The Importance of Proper Notice in Arbitration Proceedings
What difference can a “t” make? Apparently, a lot. In a Hong Kong Arbitration Society arbitration, the Claimant served its Notice of Arbitration (NoA) on the Respondent using [email protected] instead of [email protected] (the Respondent’s email for service under the relevant contract). That difference was sufficient…Read More
Court of Final Appeal: Government must provide alternative means of recognising same-sex partnership
On 5 September 2023, the Court of Final Appeal in Sham Tsz Kit v Secretary for Justice [2023] HKCFA 28 ruled that the absence of alternative means of legal recognition of same-sex relationships in Hong Kong amounts to a violation of the constitutional right to…Read More
The importance of proof of the genuine reasons for dismissal in defending discrimination claims
The District Court has recently handed down a judgment against a logistics company (“Respondent”), for refusing to pay a former pregnant employee (“Claimant”) her year-end bonus and for not renewing her employment contract after she had informed the Respondent about her pregnancy. Background The Claimant…Read More
Stay of Play: Winding-Up v. Arbitration (Again)
The recent Hong Kong Court of First Instance decision of Re Shandong Chenming Paper Holdings Limited marks another intersection between the public domain of insolvency and the private realm of arbitration. In this and previous decisions, the Hong Kong courts have grappled with the issue…Read More
Will the Real Bondholder Please Stand Up? Unravelling the Locus Standi of Global Note Investors in Winding-Up Petitions
Introduction In a landmark decision issued in July, Re Leading Holdings Group Limited [2023] HKCFI 1770, the Hong Kong Courts addressed, for the first time, the right of an investor of a global note to present a winding-up petition as a contingent creditor. The Case…Read More
Consultation on proposed acceptance of commitments from Foodpanda and Deliveroo
On 1 June 2023, the Competition Commission commenced a consultation on its proposal to accept legally binding commitments (“Proposed Commitments”) from two leading online food delivery platforms in Hong Kong, Foodpanda and Deliveroo (“Platforms”). The Competition Commission conducted an investigation into the respective agreements between…Read More
Recent Changes to Hong Kong Bankruptcy Laws; a win for creditors and the environment
The Government of Hong Kong continues its push towards favouring digitisation over using hardcopy documents. The new changes to local bankruptcy laws allows: (1) electronic service of statutory demands; (2) using electronic bundles and skeletons for winding-up and bankruptcy applications; and (3) allowing electronic submission…Read More
Legal Update: PCPD investigation report on credit reference agency data subject complaint
In this snapshot legal update, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (“PCPD”) published an investigation report on 1 June 2023 concerning the TE Credit Reference System, developed by Softmedia Technology Company Limited (“Softmedia”) in January 2016. Softmedia was not a credit reference…Read More
Divorce Proceedings and Your Business Part 2
In our previous article, we explored the confidential nature of divorce proceedings; the legal framework of protection of confidentiality over documents and information disclosed in divorce proceedings; and remedies available from the Court if you discovered that your spouse has obtained your confidential information without…Read More
Divorce Proceedings and Your Business Part 1
Parties to divorce proceedings owe an ongoing duty to the Court to give full and frank financial disclosure. If you are the sole proprietor or a substantial shareholder of your private company, will the company’s assets be treated as your assets? Will you have to…Read More
Legal Update: Privacy considerations for online shopping platforms
In June 2023, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (“PCPD”) published a report (“Report”) on the privacy settings of ten common online shopping platforms in Hong Kong, including Baby Kingdom (“BKmall”), Carousell, eBay, Fortress, HKTVmall, JD.com, PlayStation App, Price.com.hk, Samsung and Taobao…Read More
