By Adam Hugill, Solicitor

Interviewed by the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council

"See you in court" is not the first resort to a Mainland contractual dispute, says Solicitor Adam Hugill.

Since April 2009, Hong Kong's Civil Justice reforms have emphasised cross-boundary mediation and arbitration.

By Alfred Ip, Partner, Notary Public and CEDR Accredited Mediator

From 1^st January 2010, the court will require parties to civil proceedings to consider using mediation as an alternate means to settle their dispute.  The court will require the parties to justify their decision in case they refuse to attempt mediation, failing which adverse costs order may be made against that party, irrespective of the outcome of the litigation.

By Christopher Hooley, Partner

Non-Chinese entities should be aware of the risks of exposing themselves to Chinese Enterprise Income Tax ("EIT") and Business Tax ("BT") merely by transferring non-Chinese employees to work in China.

The concern is that a non-Chinese entity may be regarded by the PRC Tax Authorities as having a Permanent Establishment in China ("PE"), even though it does not have any physical existence or place of business in China.

This is precisely where OLN's China Practice team and its experienced team members can offer invaluable assistance.

By Jonathan Rostron, Partner

On 16th October 2009, the United States Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit issued a judgment that sounded the death knell of the "Rule B attachment" phenomenon by reversing the 2002 "Winter Storm" decision which allowed the attachment in maritime claims of a defendant's US dollar Electronic Funds Transfers (EFTs) through New York Banks.