HONG KONG
SHARE SCHEMES FRAMEWORK UPDATED
The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) published its conclusions on a consultation paper on proposed changes to rules governing securities listings on the SEHK relating to the granting of share awards and options to acquire new shares of listed issuers (share schemes). The new rules will become effective on 1 January 2023, and intend to level the playing field in regulating the grants involving the issue of new shares under share options or share award schemes.
SINGAPORE
INCOME TAX AMENDMENTS BEFORE PARLIAMENT
Following public consultation from 8 June to 6 July this year on amendments to the Income Tax Act, 1947, the Ministry of Finance presented legislative changes for the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2022, to parliament. The bill includes measures to extend the withholding tax exemption from 31 March 2022 to 31 March 2023 for non-resident mediators and arbitrators, extend the tax benefit regime for aircraft leasing from 31 December 2022 to 31 December 2027, and adapt the tax framework for facilitating corporate amalgamations, among others.
IN THE NUMBERS
44This was the year-on-year percentage increase seen in foreign direct investment inflows in Southeast Asia in 2021, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development’s World Investment Report 2022. See more here
INDONESIA
PDP BILL ADVANCES
The Indonesian government and its House of Representatives have approved a draft of the Personal Data Protection Bill to undergo a second level of discussion at the plenary session of the house for the ratification process before being passed into law. A number of amendments had been made to the bill including refining definitions and types of personal data, legal bases for processing, rights of data subjects, obligations of data controllers, as well as the introduction of administrative fines.
JAPAN
ACTIVE ETFS TO DEBUT NEXT YEAR
For the first time, Japan will allow active exchange traded funds (ETFs) to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange to reignite interest from investors who have had access to passive ETFs for more than two decades. The final regulations are to be released sometime between March and April next year to amend the current rule that only permits index-linked ETFs. The active ETFs will be subject to daily basket disclosures and inverse active funds will be banned.
SOUTH KOREA
SHAREHOLDER PROTECTIONS FOR SPLIT-OFF IPOS
The Financial Services Commission of Korea introduced three levels of safeguards to improve the rights and interests of general shareholders in IPOs of split-off subsidiaries. With some companies recently deciding to split off their businesses and go ahead with IPOs of split-off subsidiaries within a short period of time, the issue of general shareholders incurring losses has become problematic as their shareholder rights are stripped away and stock prices for the parent company tend to decline. The financial authorities will immediately carry out follow-up measures to help restore fairness and trust in the capital markets and strengthen investor protections.
MALAYSIA
ESG GUIDE FOR SMES IN THE PIPELINE
The Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia and Bank Negara Malaysia stated that the Joint Committee on Climate Change is now supporting Capital Markets Malaysia, an affiliate of the SC, to develop an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure guide tailored to small and medium enterprises.
PHILIPPINES
BSP REVIEWS FINANCIAL CONGLOMERATE RISK
Philippine financial regulators led by the central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), conducted their second cross-sectoral review of the country’s financial conglomerates in October as part of the Financial Sector Forum’s (FSF) systemic risk assessment. The FSF concluded its first risk review from April to June this year. The pilot run covered the conduct of risk assessments on the financial conglomerate, identification of key supervisory concerns, and development of supervisory plans.
We have to ensure that legislation passed by the new congress is consistent with competition law. There’s always a risk that when you try to provide incentives or subsidies for businesses to grow, sometimes competition principles are set aside
Johannes Benjamin R Bernabe
Philippine Competition Commission Commissioner
See more here
TAIWAN
BANKS MAY OFFER WIDER HIGH-END PRODUCTS
The Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan issued an interpretive rule that allows banks to conduct trust investments in offshore funds that do not have the nature of a securities investment trust fund, pursuant to article 5 of the Regulations Governing Banks Conducting Financial Products and Services for High-Asset Customers. The rule strengthens banks’ com-petitiveness in the market with more diversified products, limited to professional institutional investors, high net-worth corporate investors, and high-asset customers.
THAILAND
MOBILE OPERATORS FACE STIFF SIM PENALTIES
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) of Thailand will fine mobile phone operators THB1 million (USD27,000) a day for failing to follow its rule on sim card registration within the next 30 days. The regulator’s guideline stated that one person may register a maximum of five numbers with an operator, and anyone wishing to register more must first seek permission from the operators by presenting their ID card.
VIETNAM
DECREE MANDATES DATA LOCALISATION
With respect to the 2018 Cybersecurity Law, the Vietnamese government issued decree 53 on data handling, which takes effect from 1 October. The decree states that domestic and certain foreign companies providing specified services (e.g., telecommunications, e-commerce and online payment) will have to store specific types of data in the country for a minimum period of 24 months, and system logs relating to violations of the law must be stored for at least 12 months. Agencies under the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of National Defence are authorised to enforce cybersecurity regulations and will be required to follow procedures set out in the decree for enforcement actions.
