Hong Kong markets regulator levied record fines in 2019… Bird & Bird hires international co-head for finance team…
Perth partner among nine promotions at HFW
HFW has announced nine promotions across its international network including a new energy and resources partner in Australia.
Perth lawyer Jo Garland makes partner with her extensive experience in the energy and resources, decarbonisation and climate change fields, mostly acting for utilities, offtakers, power project developers, and large energy users.
Five other lawyers have also been promoted to partner including two in London, two in Mainland Europe, and one in Texas; and there are three promotions to legal director in London.
Managing partner Jeremy Shebson said he was “very pleased to see balance between male and female promotions – gender equality is a key priority for us as a business, and we are committed to improving female representation at all levels of the firm."
Hong Kong markets regulator levied record fines in 2019
The total fines levied by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in 2019 reached a record high of HK$1.29 billion.
IPO applicants and the listing process were the top targets for the regulator according to an analysis by magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Between June 2018 and June 2019, the SFC directly intervened in a record 46 IPO and post-IPO cases combined, compared to 32 the year before, and three in 2016-17.
“Total stock market turnover fell approximately 19% compared to the previous year, and we saw a corresponding reduction in certain types of regulatory activity, such as SFC trading enquiries into market transactions,” said Georgia Dawson, Freshfields’ Asia managing partner. “At the same time, some things did not change: the regulator continued to focus on fewer but higher-impact cases, and on proactively addressing concerns before problems materialise. We do not expect this to change in the near-term.”
The analysis suggests that the focus on IPOs will continue in the year ahead along with corporate misconduct and fraud. Operational resilience and risk management will also be in the spotlight, especially due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Bird & Bird hires international co-head for finance team
A former senior representative of the Italian Financial Services Authority (Consob) has joined Bird & Bird as co-head of its international finance and financial regulation practice.
Giuseppe D’Agostino joins partners Joss Hargrave (UK) and Michael Juenemann (Germany) as co-Heads of the practice and has particularly expertise in asset management, investment services, banking and FinTech.
