Join Baker McKenzie regulatory and enforcement practitioners as we navigate this uncertain time and work together through the challenges ahead. We offer practical advice and real-time analysis of the changing landscape across the United States, Europe and Asia. Webinar Series: The New Framework for Investment Adviser Marketing In this 4-part…
On January 15, 2021, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published in the Federal Register a final…
Hong Kong and Mainland China are common destinations for embezzled funds In today’s global marketplace, disputes are growing…
The Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Tax Concessions for Carried Interest) Bill 2021 (“Bill”) was published in the Gazette today. The Bill sets forth the legislative framework for granting concessionary tax treatment to carried interest received by or accrued to fund managers and their employees, and is in line with the proposals put forward by the government in its August 2020 consultation paper as well as in the discussion paper issued by the Legislative Council Panel on Financial Affairs earlier this month.
Further to our client alerts published in August 2020 and January 2021 detailing the parameters and eligibility criteria of the concession, we set forth in this alert other features newly introduced in the Bill, which are worthy of note. We will provide a more detailed alert summarizing the features of the Bill at a later date.
A tax concession is proposed for carried interest issued by private entity (PE) funds operating in Hong Kong. Following the government’s consultation paper issued in August 2020 and the industry consultation on the initial proposals, the Legislative Council (“LegCo”) Panel on Financial Affairs released a discussion paper on 4 January 2021 on the proposed tax concession regime, with a view to introducing the amendment bill into LegCo in late January 2021. Subject to the passage of the amendment bill, the concessionary tax treatment will take retrospective effect in respect of eligible carried interest received or accrued on or after 1 April 2020. Under the latest proposal, eligible carried interest will be charged at a concessionary profits tax rate of 0%, and 100% of eligible carried interest will be excluded from employment income for salaries tax purposes.
The Hong Kong government recently announced that three types of COVID-19 vaccines will be available for the city’s residents, raising hopes of things returning to business-as-usual in the not too distant future. While the specifics of the vaccine rollout are still unknown, employers have many questions on what this means in practice. Issues include how the vaccine can be used to protect workforces as well as an understanding of employer responsibilities in relation to the offering of vaccines to employees.
Insurtech (Part 2) Taking off from the recent publication, Insurtech: Opportunities and Legal Challenges for the Insurance Industry, Chris Murrer and Iris Barsan walk through observations in the market, as well as key developments that define the current insurtech landscape. In this second installment, they take a deeper look into regulations…
Read publication In this regional update, we provide you with a practical overview of the most notable antitrust…
Digital transformation is not only about technology, it is about bringing together the power of technology with a…
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published a number of developments to its open-ended fund companies (OFC) regime in the last few weeks of 2020. On 23 December 2020, the SFC released both its conclusions (“Conclusions”) on the customer due diligence (CDD) requirements for OFC consultations and updated frequently asked questions (FAQ) relating to OFCs to clarify custodial requirements.
The Conclusions represent the culmination of the SFC’s further consultation on the CDD requirements to be imposed on OFCs, as released in September 2020 in its consultation conclusions related to further enhancements to the OFC regime (“September Conclusions”).1 The new CDD requirements will come into effect after a six-month transition period following the completion of the legislative process to amend the Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO). The September Conclusions contained, amongst other things, liberalisation of the types of entities that can act as custodian and the updated FAQ provide clarification of the requirements for an OFC’s custodial arrangements. We discuss the Conclusions and updated FAQ in more depth in this Alert.