BNLS Law Firm

We are pleased to share that Bonnard Lawson’s arbitration team (Dr Fabrice Robert-Tissot and Ms Sumin JO) has successfully represented the International Skating Union (ISU) before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The CAS Panel dismissed the two appeals launched against the ISU’s decision re-ranking the placements at the Figure Skating Team Event of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The Gold and the Silver medals were awarded during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. More information is available on our website: https://lnkd.in/dEkBFeSd

🔍Update on Review of the Arbitration Law (Revision Draft ) A Revision of China's Arbitration Law (originally enacted in 1994 with amendments in 2009 + 2017), is underway. Last 30 July 2024, the Ministry of Justice issued a Revision Draft for public comment until 29 August 2024. Some of the proposed key changes are: 📌Competence: the Revision Draft empowers arbitral tribunals to rule on their jurisdiction and the validity of arbitration agreements, reducing court intervention and supporting the "competence-competence" doctrine (where tribunals can rule on its jurisdiction and validity of the arbitration agreement before court intervention); 📌Principal and Accessory Contracts: under the new draft, an arbitration clause in a principal contract would cover disputes under accessory contracts, even if they lack an arbitration clause; 📌Seat of Arbitration Standard: the draft introduces the "seat of arbitration standard" to determine the jurisdiction and nationality of arbitral awards, potentially making awards by foreign institutions in China subject to domestic review. 📌Interim and Partial Awards: currently, tribunals are reluctant to issue partial awards and interim awards are not allowed. Interim awards address urgent matters and preserve the status quo, while partial awards address certain aspects of the resolution. The Revision Draft aims to improve efficiency by allowing tribunals to issue partial and interim awards and entitling winning parties to apply to courts for their enforcement; These changes align Chinese arbitration practices with international standards, enhancing efficiency and flexibility in arbitration procedures. The available text in Chinese and English: https://lnkd.in/dFk2zqY5 Contact Iago Camilo (毅格) or our team if you are interested in further developments related to arbitration. #ChinaArbitration #DisputesInChina #BusinessInChina

𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐱 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐢 New Development On 29 December 2023, the municipal tax authority of Shanghai issued the “Shanghai Municipal Taxation Bureau Tax Advance Ruling Management Measures (in Trial)” (the “Measures”). During this trial period, the Shanghai Tax Authority issued advance tax rulings to (at least) 2 corporate taxpayers. Advance tax rulings (“ATR)” are used for many years in countries such as the United States, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, etc., while in China there are no rules on national legislative level. Therefore, this trial marks a relevant development for tax administration in China. What is an ATR? The ATR refers to a system in which the tax authority provides opinions or suggestions on specific future tax matters in advance as per the application of the relevant taxpayers. By implementing the ATR, tax certainty and transparency can be improved, especially for complex tax matters. Shanghai’s Measures apply to corporate taxpayers only and certain situations have been excluded from the scope of ATR explicitly which are: 1. the projects are not concrete enough or the events are not expected to occur within two years; 2. the matters do not have reasonable commercial purposes or are expressly prohibited by law; 3. the current tax laws and regulations already provide clear provisions and these can be directly applied. Benefits of ATR According to the Measures, the opinion provided through the ATR does not have any legally binding effect. Nevertheless, we can imagine that the tax authority will tend to adopt/refer to the opinion provided in the ATR when they make official final assessments since this should also be a more easy and reasonable way for them to deal with complex tax matters. Therefore, the predictability of tax-related risks will be improved to some extent. Since the Measures are still in trial, the implementation lacks clear and specific guidance in practice. However, in the future, if the ATR becomes more and more common in Shanghai or even in China, corporate taxpayers will benefit from the ability to seek formal tax opinions in advance saving costs and mitigating tax-related risks. We will keep an eye on the development and implementation of the Measures for you and we hope that the tax authority will issue more guidance in this regard! Please contact Liya Gu (liya.gu@bnlslaw.com) for more information #ChinaTax #Chineselaw #ChineseLawyer #FDI

𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧 - 𝐍𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝   Hainan Province is a popular (foreign) investors’ destination because of its favourable regulatory and tax incentives. Similar to the rest of China, Hainan also has a Negative List of prohibited and restricted industries applicable to foreign investors: foreign investors are prohibited from investing directly in prohibited industries and have to meet specific requirements in restricted industries.   The latest version of the “Hainan Province Industrial Access Prohibition and Restriction Catalogue” is from 2019. On 22 July 2024, the Development and Reform Commission of Hainan Province issued the “Hainan Province Industrial Access Prohibition and Restriction Catalogue (2024 Consultation Paper)” inviting the public to give its opinion. If this 2024 Consultation Paper becomes final and effective, the prohibited and restricted industry list will be further shortened.   Among the prohibited industries 2024 Consultation Paper are agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishing, mining, manufacturing, electricity, heat, gas and water production and supply and real estate. Restricted industries include agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishing and manufacturing (e.g. cigarette manufacturing and traditional Chinese medicine manufacturing).   Hainan is further optimizing foreign investment-related laws to optimize its investment climate.   2024 Consultation Paper in Chinese: https://lnkd.in/gpwmXy4j.   Negative list 2019 https://lnkd.in/gg9rZPtf.   #ForeignInvestment #PRCLegalUpdate #Hainan Negative List   For more inquiries, please contact Yasmin Yao at yasmin.yao@bnlslaw.com.

Follow our sister company EQ+ for more news relevant to your company's Risk Management and Business Strategy #consultancy #strategicadvice #internationalbusiness

Our Vanessa Albuquerque talks about the complexities of China's Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) and cross-border data transfer with Wrangu's Petruta Pirvan in this podcast. #PIPL #datagovernance #crossborderdata #chinalawyer

The PRC Supreme People’s Court formulated “Several Provisions on the Application of the Temporal Effect of the Company Law” to connect the old and new Company Laws by Tanja W. #newcompanylaw #fdi #investinchina #PRClawyer

The New Company Law - our Zachi Lichtblau guides you in this podcast from FIDINAM Group hosted by Tommaso Colli through the key changes and practical implications, helping you navigate the evolving regulatory landscape in China. 💥 Watch the full episode ➡ https://lnkd.in/g-CPNJAg💥 #corporatelaw #chineselaw #foreigninvestment #fdi #chineselawyer

🔍 Update on Generative AI Patents and China The Patent Landscape Report on Generative AI published by WIPO last week reveals a relevant position of China in generative AI (GenAI) patents applications. Between 2014 and 2023, China-based inventors filed over 38,210 GenAI patents. This represents six times more than the United States (6,276 inventions). Following the US are Republic of Korea (4,155), Japan (3,409) and India (1,350). GenAI is truly transformative, enabling the creation of text, images, music, and even software code. Top patent application areas of GenAI include software, life sciences, document management and publishing, business solutions, industry and manufacturing, transportation, security and telecommunications. According to the WIPO report, since the introduction of advanced neural network architectures in 2017, GenAI patents have soared by more than 800%. Leading the charge are Chinese giants like Tencent, Ping An Insurance, and Baidu, whose advancements are revolutionizing sectors from industrial applications to everyday consumer products. China's position in GenAI patents shows how the IP can be a tool for innovation and technological flourishment. Below is the full Report. Contact me if you have any question. https://lnkd.in/dYKvkafs #GenerativeAI #AI #ChinaTech #China #Innovation #ArtificialIntelligence #WIPO #Technology #IntellectualProperty #Patents #FutureTech

Our correspondent law firm Bonnard Lawson International Law Firm will be part of the Ethereum Community Conference in Brussels that will take place from 8 - 11 July! Florian Ducommun #blockchaintechnology