Mayer Brown (LexBlog China)

This practice note discusses the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the HFCAA), which affects the securities of certain foreign companies listed on U.S. markets and requires them to submit documentation and disclosures to the SEC and the PCAOB. The HFCAA aims to address the regulatory challenge posed by Chinese law that prevents the PCAOB from...

On the eve of the “Golden Week” in China, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) published the draft Provisions on Regulating and Promoting Cross-Border Data Transfers (the “Draft Provisions”) on 28 September 2023.1 The Draft Provisions provide a welcome rollback of some of the onerous cross-border data transfer regime, first introduced by the Personal Information...

On July 17, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance (“Division”) released another Sample Letter (“Letter”) that outlines the disclosures that the Staff is focused on in relation to companies based or having the majority of their operations in the People’s Republic of China (“China-based Companies”).  Our discussion on the Division’s...

On 30 May 2023, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released a discussion paper titled “Prototype of a Green Classification Framework for Hong Kong” seeking feedback on developing and adopting a green taxonomy for Hong Kong. In an effort to support Hong Kong’s role in linking green financial flows between Mainland China and the rest...

Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, delivered the 2023-24 budget on 22 February 2023 with the promotion of a green economy, sustainable development and China’s “3060 Dual Carbon Targets” at the forefront. He laid out his vision to establish Hong Kong as a leading global green technology and financing hub. Continue reading at Mayerbrown.com.

Following the end of the “Zero COVID” policy and a wave of new infections in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), several countries have implemented new COVID-related restrictions on travelers from the PRC mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau. Thus far, these restrictions mainly consist of pre-departure testing requirements, but they represent a departure from the...

Yesterday, the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) announced it had secured complete access to inspect and investigate issuer engagements of audit firms headquartered in China and Hong Kong, marking the first time in history that Chinese authorities allowed complete access for inspections and investigations meeting US standards.  Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the PCAOB...

The Secretariat of the National Information Security Standardisation Technical Committee (TC260) released a draft revision of the Technical Specification for Certification of Cross-Border Transfers of Personal Information (Certification Specification V2.0) on 8 November 2022, nearly five months after it issued the finalised specification of the same name (Certification Specification V1.0) (see...

On 28 October 2022, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (“HKEx”) launched Core Climate, an international carbon marketplace designed to allow for the trading of voluntary carbon credits and instruments, which provides a best-in-class, trusted market infrastructure and helps connect capital with climate-related products and opportunities in Hong Kong, Mainland China and globally. Core...

**A Chinese version of this blog post follows the English version.** On 19 August 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”), the National Bureau of Statistics (“NBS”), and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (“MEE“) of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) jointly issued the “Implementation Plan on Accelerating the Establishment of a Unified...

Last Friday, the United States and China appear to have taken a major step towards resolving their long-standing dispute over inspections and investigations by the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) of audit firms based in China and Hong Kong that threatens to cause the delisting of approximately $1.5 trillion in U.S.-listed securities by...

**A Chinese version of this blog post follows the English version.** China’s State Council-backed think tank, China Enterprise Reform and Development Society (“CERDS“), alongside a number of major Chinese companies including Ping An Insurance Company, issued “The Guidance for Enterprise ESG Disclosure” effective on 1 June 2022 (“Guidance“). The Guidance is China’s first ESG disclosure guideline,..

New ‘Draft Rules for the Regulations on the Management of Human Genetic Resources’ (Draft Rules) were issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the PRC (MOST) on 14 March 2022. Issued pursuant to the Biosecurity Law and the Data Security Law, the Draft Rules are a response from the government to the growing...

On 24 June 2022, the Secretariat of the National Information Security Standardisation Technical Committee (TC260) issued the Technical Specification for Certification of Cross-Border Transfers of Personal Information (the Certification Specification), eight weeks after it first issued the draft of the same name (the Draft). The relatively speedy finalisation of the Certification Specification is...

More than nine months after the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) came into force in the PRC, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) issued the long-awaited Draft Provisions on Standard Contracts for the Export of Personal Information (Draft Provisions) on 30 June 2022. The Draft Provisions supplement Article 38(3) of the PIPL, which provides that...

In December 2021, President Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) into law. The UFLPA creates a rebuttable presumption that goods “mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part” in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“XUAR”) of China, or by certain other entities in China, are made with forced labor and that such...

New draft Regulations on the Online Protection of Minors (Draft Regulations) were released by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on 14 March 2022. They update the 2016 Draft Regulations of the same name which were released for public comment but never adopted. The latest Draft Regulations have been issued pursuant to the PRC Law...

On 2 March 2022, the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”) issued draft regulations on the administration of internet pop-up push notifications (the “Draft Regulations”). The Draft Regulations were issued pursuant to a number of laws, including the Cybersecurity Law. The Draft Regulations bid to further tighten government control over the news followed a human trafficking...

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final amendments to its rules on December 2, 2021 to implement the requirements in the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act of 2020.  Although for the foreseeable future, the majority of the new rules are expected only to affect SEC registrants whose operations are based in China or...

In order to implement the “Plan for the Reform of the Legal Disclosure System of Environmental Information” issued by China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) in May 2021, the MEE has issued new disclosure rules (Rules) that will require domestic entities to disclose a range of environmental information on an annual basis, effective 8...

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final amendments to its rules on December 2, 2021 to implement the requirements in the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act of 2020.  Although for the foreseeable future, the majority of the new rules are expected only to affect SEC registrants whose operations are based in China or...

On December 20, 2021, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance (“Division”) issued the Sample Letter (“Letter”) to companies based or having the majority of their operations in the People’s Republic of China (“China-based Companies”). The Letter requires China-based Companies to disclose in their public filings “more prominent, specific and tailored” risks...

Webinar | Hosted by the Practising Law Institute (PLI) October 13, 2021, 1:00pm – 2:00pm EDT Recently proposed legislation in the US along with rising tensions between the US and China present significant challenges for US-listed companies with substantial operations in China. During this PLI-hosted event, Mayer Brown LLP partners, Jason T. Elder and Christina...

China’s Evergrande Group has been in the news this week as reports of a deepening liquidity crisis at the conglomerate threaten to shake Chinese markets, particularly in the real estate sector.  Evergrande, a real estate developer with more than $300 billion in debt is now struggling to service that debt in the face of shifting...

According to CB Insights’ latest State of Venture Report, global startup financing in Q2’21 reached $156.2 billion, a 157% year-over-year increase and a record quarter high. U.S. startup funding accounted for the largest portion of the global quarter total, raising $70.4 billion, followed by Asia raising $42.2 billion. Meanwhile, funding to China-based companies continued to...

In our blog post on 13 May 2021, we discussed the consultation papers published by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) on proposed ESG-related amendments to the disclosure rules applicable to listed companies. On 28 June 2021, the CSRC published the final set of amendments (“Final Amendments”) to the disclosure rules applicable to annual reports...

Mayer Brown partners Dr. Thomas S. T. So and Vivien S. K. Yip and registered foreign lawyer Evan Zhou recently published an article for Mayer Brown’s Perspectives & Events portal on a new cooperation arrangement for mutual recognition of and assistance to cross-border corporate insolvency and debt restructuring proceedings between Mainland China and Hong Kong....

A new executive order (“EO”) signed by President Biden on June 3, 2021, amends existing prohibitions on US investments in companies that the US government has determined support the military of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). The EO, Executive Order 14032, builds on the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13959, signed by President...

On May 27, 2021, the Secretary of State broadened the eligibility criteria regarding categories of business travelers eligible for National Interest Exceptions under Presidential Proclamations 9984, 9992, 10143, 10199, and similar subsequent proclamations related to the spread of COVID-19.  As a result of this determination, together with national interest determinations already in place,...

After China’s annual Two Sessions in March, policy directives by departmental ministries and provincial governments on energy transition have come into shape. The first quarter of 2021 saw the country experiencing a steady upsurge in renewable energy capacity with a total installed capacity of renewable energy amounting to 948 million kilowatts from 794 million kilowatts...