Legal

China has revised two of the country's key commercial banking laws, and has issued a concrete formulation of the role and responsibilities of the China Banking Regulatory Commission and this has been welcomed by industry watchers.

The Procedures applies to law firms having already established representative offices in the Mainland. Association with Mainland law firms shall not take the form of a partnership or a legal person, and shall retain independence of both parties in terms of legal status, names and finances. Fulfilling criteria listed in therein, the Procedures provide application procedures for association submitted by the Hong Kong and Macau SAR law firms.

Promulgated: December 5 2003Effective: February 1 2004Interpreting authority: General Administration of CustomsApplicability: "Bonded warehouses" is defined…

The Procedures applies to law firms having already established representative offices in the Mainland. Association with Mainland law firms shall not take the form of a partnership or a legal person, and shall retain independence of both parties in terms of legal status, names and finances. Fulfilling criteria listed in therein, the Procedures provide application procedures for association submitted by the Hong Kong and Macau SAR law firms.

Tightens control over sales of state assets.

New distribution regulations released in 2003 as well as the landmark M&A rules have changed the landscape for foreign investment in publishing distribution.

Taiwan has made greater private sector participation in infrastructure projects a government priority. A look into how conducive the regulatory environment to realization of government policy is in this area.

The Procedures apply to law firms having already established representative offices in the Mainland. Association with Mainland law firms may not take the form of a partnership or a legal person, and shall retain independence of both parties in terms of legal status, names and finances. Fulfilling criteria listed therein, the Procedures provide application procedures for association submitted by the Hong Kong and Macao SAR law firms.

The Procedures represents the China Banking Regulatory Commission's administration of offshore financial institutions' investment and equity participation in Chinese-invested banks, credit cooperatives, and finance companies. Rules are stipulated as to the eligibility of investing offshore institutions (including the year-end total assets, credit ratings, profitability, capital adequacy ratio) and the maximum investment and equity participation ratio. CBRC's approval is required under the Procedures for the application for foreign investment, the change in registered capital or equity structure, as well as shareholders composition. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan institutions are regarded as foreign institutions under the Procedures.