Having reached the midpoint of the year (at an almost uncanny pace), we habitually look back and then forward at both past achievements and future aspirations. Between the recurrent pandemic outbreaks, inflationary pressures and energy price fluctuations causing major economies to pause and ponder, many have found the first half of the year challenging. But the footfalls of progress cannot be halted any more than the wheels of time can stop turning and, even in the stories covered by this issue of China Business Law Journal, we find plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
With capital tightening up both at home and abroad amid new policies, Sino-US regulatory standoffs and global geopolitical tension, how should Chinese companies determine their listing destinations? Our cover story, Markets of choice, explores the grim prospects facing US-listed Chinese companies, but also the opportunities found in Stock Connect, a pilot private pension scheme, and the SME-minded Beijing Stock Exchange.
With China’s capital market growing more sophisticated, especially in light of the comprehensive launch of the registration system reform, companies face more bountiful, though not necessarily simpler, options. In Long and winding roads, top law firms elaborate on numerous trending issues in the market, from rules on cross-board migration to the benefits of the new “compliance non-prosecution” system.
Zooming in on China’s large but still developing derivatives and futures market, the Futures and Derivatives Law, the first fundamental law in the country’s 30-odd year history of futures trading, is set to come into force in August. The new law, consisting of 13 chapters and 155 articles, aims to align domestic practice to international standards, with requirements on cross-border trade bringing in fresh compliance pressures.
Derivatives and futures trading can be technical and highly specialised, involving special legal protection mechanisms such as close-out netting, previously at risk of being contradicted by the bankruptcy law and its own brand of cross-border regulation and dispute resolution. In Bright future, we look into the new status of futures trading in China from these perspectives.
For in-house counsel, how to identify and collaborate well with external counsel that best fit the company’s needs is a persistent puzzle. What is the best way to pinpoint where a law firm’s qualities meet the company’s needs for legal services? Given their shared but differently motivated legal backgrounds, how do in-house and external counsel communicate and collaborate? In Matching the pieces, Nancy Wei, legal director at Tupperware (China), and formerly placed at Mayer Brown and Stephenson Harwood, shares valuable insights from her experience on both sides.
