On 12 March 2024, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) issued a press release announcing the launch of its new stablecoin issuer sandbox arrangement (“Stablecoin Sandbox”). The Stablecoin Sandbox is another step following the legislative proposal to implement a new regulatory regime for stablecoin issuers. The Stablecoin Sandbox will facilitate communications between the HKMA and interested stablecoin issuers to gauge the expected regulatory standards.
The Department of Climate Change and Environment under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is pushing ahead with the second draft of the Climate Change Bill (“Bill”), which is currently undergoing the process of public hearing until mid-April 2024. It is expected that the Bill will be considered by the cabinet for approval in principle in June 2024.
The Bill lays out Thailand’s action plan for climate actions and, importantly, imposes obligations and penalties for the private sector for the purposes of advancing climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. Some of the key elements of the Bill are summarized in this article.
We are pleased to share upcoming developments in relation to the Companies (Amendment) Act 2024 (“CA 2024”) which will anchor the revised beneficial ownership (BO) reporting framework. The approval process of the CA 2024 through the Malaysian Parliament was completed in December 2023. The CA 2024 subsequently received Royal Assent on 24 January 2024 and finally, the CA 2024 was gazetted on 2 February 2024. At this point in time, the CA 2024 has yet to be enforced.
The Australian government has, after many years of deliberation, passed the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Combatting Foreign Bribery) Bill 2023 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 the profit or gain of the company. The company will be liable unless it can establish that it has ‘adequate procedures’ in place to prevent the commission of bribery by its associates.
On 27 February 2024, China published the amended Law on Guarding State Secrets, which will take effect on 1 May 2024. The Amended SSL enhances state secrets protection from multiple aspects, together with the Counterespionage Law amended in 2023, the National Security Law, and other national security related laws and regulations.
Following a new regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand defining new characteristics of bills (i.e., bills of exchange and promissory notes) that are considered securities, the Capital Market Supervisory Board of Thailand has amended the requirements for offerings of bills to match the new definition. The new offering requirements will come into effect on 16 March 2024.
In a move to develop Thailand’s position as a regional hub of investment, the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission began a public hearing on the new securities and derivatives business licensing regime on 9 February 2024, designed to increase flexibility and decrease costs for business operators.
The Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA) was introduced in Parliament on 8 May 2023 and passed on 5 July 2023. It has commenced in part on 1 February 2024. Under the OCHA, five types of government directions may be issued to deal with criminal online activities. These directions can be issued to communicators of criminal content, online service providers, and internet service providers. Provisions on the issuance of codes of practice and directives in partnership with online services will come into force at a later stage.
The Cyber Security Agency has published a consultation paper on the proposed Cybersecurity (Amendment) Bill, which would amend the Cybersecurity Act 2018. The CAB seeks to strengthen the legal framework governing the maintenance of national cybersecurity in Singapore, against the pressing need for legislation to effectively address the fast-developing technological environment.
The implementation of the new Law on Telecommunications, effective on 1 July 2024, requires a decree from the government to provide guidance and further details on various issues. On 2 February 2024, the Ministry of Information and Communications published a draft version of the decree guiding the New Telecom Law to collect public comments. The deadline for public comments is 2 April 2024.