Just as we were nearing the end zone of the covid ordeal, a wave of radical regulatory reforms has surged over the beachline of corporate compliance, bringing with it a flow-on of business transformations. On the bright side, however, a market with the rule of law will benefit all players in the long run.
Among the numerous updates, the new Personal Information Protection Law is one of the biggest potential undertows. Taking effect in November, it has prompted calls for action, across the country and beyond, to update businesses with swift compliance.
In our cover story, Sea change, Chen Yan takes us to the forefront of the legal department at KE Holdings, where he leads his team to work with both online and offline property brokerage platforms to face today’s challenges. Chen unravels the new privacy legislation from the perspective of a general counsel by looking at the big picture of building an internal data compliance regime, and explains how to integrate regulations into business practice. He also compares local and international legal frameworks, and summarises five high-risk scenarios for legal pitfalls that companies may face. A must for our in-house readership.
Meanwhile, unrest in the property sector has compelled China’s asset-backed securities (ABS) market to look for new channels for financing. Even though the market has pulled off a remarkable recovery since the pandemic, the urgency of opening up new fields for financing is felt by the majority of practitioners. Significantly, the rise in debt defaults in the bond market and policy restrictions from top officials that “houses are built to be inhabited, not for speculation” have no doubt affected the risk appetite of investors and the investment side of the ABS market.
Finding the finance gets the lowdown from legal experts in the industry and explores the immense potential in infrastructure REIT products, green credit programmes, and intangible assets such as data and intellectual property, which in their minds may vitalise the financial market with renewed vigour.
Looking afar, into China’s outbound portfolios, both the investment appetite of PRC businesses and a demand for Chinese capital are on the rise. But a full comeback has yet to be achieved, and is unlikely until we overcome key challenges from multiple jurisdictions. Past the pit stop gathers voices from senior lawyers worldwide to analyse the best options for Chinese companies to make up leeway for re-entering the big race.
The business and legal world may have gotten used to webinars, but most speakers have zero clue as to how to engage and retain their attendees. In Putting zip in your zoom, corp comms expert John Miers offers some practical advice for you to remain in the limelight of online meetings and keep your audiences in high spirits and attentive.
In ICC clearly, we talk to Claudia Salomon, the new president of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Court of Arbitration, about her new role and what changes she expects to see in the dispute resolution landscape in the region.
