EN
In order to encourage the listing of real estate investment trust (REIT) in Hong Kong, the HKSAR Government announced in the 2021/22 Budget that it would provide subsidies to qualifying REITs authorised by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and listed in Hong Kong in the coming three years. The SFC has today (10 May 2021) announced details of the subsidy scheme.
The subsidy scheme covers both open-ended fund companies (OFCs) and REITs in Hong Kong. For OFCs successfully incorporated in or re-domiciled to Hong Kong and SFC-authorised REITs successfully listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, the scheme covers 70% of eligible expenses paid to Hong Kong-based service providers, subject to a cap of HK$1 million per OFC and HK$8 million per REIT. Qualifying REITs should have a market capitalisation of at least HK$1.5 billion (or its equivalent) at the time of listing.
Examples of eligible expenses covered by the scheme include fees charged by law firms or legal advisers for legal work in relation to the incorporation/re-domiciliation of an OFC/REIT, including (i) the drafting of legal documents and offering documents of the OFC/REIT and (ii) work done in relation to the authorisation of an OFC/REIT with the SFC.
Interested parties may obtain further details about the eligibility criteria and application process from the frequently asked questions published by the SFC.
MinterEllison LLP announces with great pleasure the appointment of Jun Kwong as Partner in the firm’s Dispute Resolution Practice. The appointment is effective from 1 May 2021.
Jun has extensive experience in representing individual and corporate clients in handling a wide variety of litigation matters, with particular focus on commercial disputes, financial services regulatory matters, independent corporate investigations, contentious probate cases and estate administration actions. Jun also has extensive experience in handling regulatory investigations, “dawn raids” and securities regulatory related legal proceedings.
Jun Kwong joined MinterEllison LLP as a Senior Associate in 2019. He completed his Postgraduate Certificate in Laws from the University of Hong Kong in 2011. Jun was admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong in 2013.
In accordance with the schedule set out in the Insurance (Levy) Order under the Insurance Ordinance , starting from 1 April 2021, the premium levy rate would be adjusted from 0.085% to 0.1% of the insurance premium per policy year. The levy cap would be adjusted from HK$85 to HK$100 for life insurance policies, and from HK$4,250 to HK$5,000 for general insurance policies.
Save for a few types of policies exempted by law, policy holders of all new or in-force life insurance policies and general insurance policies have to pay the levy together with their premium payment. The Insurance Authority (IA) collects the premium levies from policy holders through the insurance companies. The levies, together with other fees collected by the IA, are used to finance the IA’s operations.
For more information, please refer to the IA’s website.
On 16 April 2021, our Partner Desmond Yu and Associate Iris Cheng delivered a webinar titled “Internal Investigation in the Context of Regulatory Process” organized by The Hong Kong Federation of Insurers for its members.
Desmond and Iris shared on important issues relating to internal investigations, experience stories on the topic, and tips on planning and conducting effective internal investigations in the context of the current insurance regulatory regime, under the Insurance Ordinance. The nearly 300 participants reacted positively and generally considered the sharing “very useful”.
Our client bulletin for March 2021 covers the following topics:
Please click here to view the bulletin.
See news from our global offices