Sort by
24 June 2020
Pressure Points: Venture capital in Southeast Asia post-Covid-19 (Asia)
The Covid-19 pandemic has created significant economic challenges for industries world-wide. The Southeast Asia venture capital industry and the start-up ecosystem that it supports are no exception. Start-ups in particularly hard-hit industries have found themselves at risk in these uncertain times...
06 February 2020
Australian privacy law reform and review announced
On 12 December 2019, the Australian Government announced its response to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s ( ACCC ) Digital Platform Inquiry. Despite the Inquiry’s name, only 1 of the 11 recommendations in the report about data practices is targeted at digital platforms.
12 November 2019
Casting the regulatory net over virtual assets – SFC finalises new regulatory framework for virtual asset trading platforms
On 6 November 2019, the Security and Futures Commission ( SFC ) issued a position paper setting out a new regulatory framework for the licensing of centralised virtual asset trading platforms, following the SFC’s conceptual framework issued last year.
01 November 2019
Hong Kong SFC’s new electronic data requirements place MICs and cloud services in the spotlight
Yesterday, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission ( SFC ) published a circular ( Circular ) on the use of electronic data storage providers ( EDSPs ) by licensed corporations ( LCs ).
06 September 2019
FATF and APG publish long-awaited mutual evaluation report on Hong Kong
Following the Financial Action Task Force ( FATF ) and the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering’s inspection of Hong Kong in October and November 2018, their much anticipated Mutual Evaluation Report ( Report ) on Hong Kong was published on 4 September 2019. Our previous bulletin on 25 June 2019...
01 July 2019
Digital Banking Licences have arrived for non-bank players in Singapore
On 28 June 2019, the Monetary Authority of Singapore ( MAS ) announced that it will issue up to five new digital bank licences, which will effectively open digital banking business to non-bank players in Singapore. Announcing the measures at the 46th Annual Dinner of The Association of Banks in...
24 June 2019
MAS extends AML/CFT requirements to Payment Service Providers
On 6 June 2019, the Monetary Authority of Singapore ( MAS ) issued a Consultation Paper on proposed anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism ( AML/CFT ) requirements which will apply to most payment service providers ( PS Providers ). Submissions close on 5 July 2019. The...
12 March 2019
Latest Shake-up of the Remuneration Provisions for Banks and Investment Firms Part 2: Banks and credit institutions
After over two years of debate, agreement has finally been reached on the proposed directive amending the Capital Requirements Directive (which is generally being titled CRD5 ), and the European Council has published its final text. As detailed in our previous briefing ( Part 1 ), however, the...
11 March 2019
Latest Shake-up of the Remuneration Provisions for Banks and Investment Firms Part 1: Investment Firms
Agreement has now been reached between the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council on the final texts of two Directives which will impact on the remuneration provisions which apply to banks and investment firms. The first is the Investment Firms Directive ( IFD ), which will introduce a...
02 November 2018
Casting the regulatory net over virtual assets – new regulation in Hong Kong for crypto fund managers, fund distributors and trading platforms
Yesterday, the Securities and Futures Commission ( SFC ) published a statement ( Statement ), together with a press release , setting out its new regulatory framework for virtual assets (also known as cryptocurrencies, crypto-assets and digital tokens).
Loading Results
Loading
Hubs
Recent Articles
04 July 2022
Unbundling Competition: Asia competition law podcasts
In this podcast, members of the Herbert Smith Freehills Competition, Regulation and Trade team examine key competition law and related regulatory developments. In each instalment, we update you on the latest developments across Asia, as well as those affecting Asian businesses around the world,...
30 June 2022
Asia-Pacific Competition Law Guide 2022
We are pleased to announce the launch of the sixth edition of Herbert Smith Freehills’ Asia-Pacific Competition Law Guide. Since the previous edition of the guide and in the context of the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, competition authorities across the Asia-Pacific region have...
29 June 2022
Trust Companies see cyber security as key business risk
Our survey confirms that trust companies continue to see cyber security as a key business risk. This is in line with companies in other areas: in IBM's 25 th edition of "The CEO Study", drawn from interviews with 3,000 CEOs worldwide, CEOs ranked cyber risk as their greatest organisational...
27 June 2022
Australia’s new employee stock ownership plan disclosure exemptions present a stark choice
New reforms designed to expand access to employee equity and reduce red tape by removing disclosure and other regulatory requirements will come into force in October – but the reality is they will present companies with a stark choice when offering equity in Australia to employees.
23 June 2022
Trust Companies Survey 2022: Beneficiary Disputes
Respondents continue to identify Beneficiary Disputes (ie disputes between the trustee and one or more of the beneficiaries) as a significant challenge. However, trustees' primary concerns remain in other areas, with Beneficiary Disputes ranking as the sixth most pressing issue. In this article, we...