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| Lowtax Network Sites |
| Lowtax Network Portal:
'Low-tax' business and investment in the top 50 jurisdictions covered in
exceptional detail. |
| Tax News: Global
tax news, continuously updated through the day. |
| Investors Offshore:
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Bank International. |
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| Offshore-e-com:
A topical guide to offshore e-commerce focused on tax and regulation. |
| Lowtax Library:
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| US Tax Network:
The resource for free online US taxation information, covering: corporate
tax, individual tax, international tax, expatriates, sales and e-commerce
tax, investment tax. |
| Personal
Business Tax Guide: Providing essential tax news and information
on business for contractors, entrepreneurs, professionals, small businesses,
artists, sportspersons and entertainers. |
| Offshore Trusts
Guide: OTG publishes news, features and newsletters on the use of
offshore trust structures. |
| TreatyPro: Online
tax treaty resource. |
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| HK SFC Proposes To Enhance Investment Regulations |
by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The Securities & Futures Commission is seeking views on proposals to enhance
existing regulations governing the sale of unlisted securities and futures products,
and thereby improve Hong Kong’s existing investor protection regime.
The Commission said the proposals cover each stage of the investment life-cycle
and are designed to enhance the current regulatory regime for the sale of investments
to the public.
Key suggestions include:
- criteria for authorising offer documents, including advertisements, should
be consolidated into a single Securities & Futures Commission handbook;
- a key facts statement in the form of a concise and easily comprehensible
summary should accompany each offer document for retail investment products;
- intermediaries should disclose their own commercial interest (for example,
commissions, fees and other benefits) to prospective investors; on an ongoing
basis, intermediaries would be required to disclose material information related
to long-term investments until their maturity; and
- intermediaries would be required to specifically gauge their clients' knowledge
of derivative products. This would be regarded as a prerequisite to selling
unlisted structured products with such elements embedded.
For longer-term products with a limited secondary market, a cooling-off period
should be given within which an investor can change their mind, the Commission
suggested. This should allow a refund of capital and related commission, but
be subject to a reasonable administrative charge and any legitimate market value
adjustment.
The Commission also said the definition of professional investor is being reviewed
not just in terms of the asset test but also in terms of product knowledge and
investment experience.
In a separate move, the Deposit Protection Board has recommended raising the
protection limit for bank deposits from HKD100,000 (USD13,000) to HKD500,000.
In its annual report, the board said it completed the second phase of the Deposit
Protection Scheme review in July. Measures to further enhance its effectiveness
were so identified, such as by raising the protection limit. The board said
that it intends to introduce the enhancements by the end of 2010, so the public
will benefit from an enhanced scheme when the blanket deposit guarantee introduced
by the government expires.
A comprehensive report in our Intelligence Report series
giving a country-by-country analysis of offshore investment funds, stock exchanges
and trusts, with an analysis of the US QI regime, is available in the Lowtax
Library at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/subs_reports.asp
and a description of the report can be seen at
http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/description_report9.asp
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