CPL Seminar - 20180717

      

      The first part of the CPL seminar was entitled “China-US trade war and the outlook of the property market” which was presented by by Mr. Shih Wing Ching (施永青先生), Founder and Chairman of Centaline Property Agency Limited (中原地產創辦人及主席), as the guest speaker. Mr. Shih is a well-known entrepreneur and commentator in Hong Kong. His opinion and ideas are often regarded as original, practical and to-the-point. He explained that the recent China-US trade war was rooted in one major reason: China is on the rise and will soon become a global super power. This phenomenon unfortunately has alerted the US about the the potential first runner which was moving up the ladder to challenge the leader. Mr. Shih  however did not expect the conflict between the two countries to finish in a short time. On the local property front, Mr. Shih believed that the government’s recent policies of providing more affordable housing would gradually reduce the demand in the private sector which is mainly dominated by investment demand. It follows therefore that the prices in the private market would become more stable.

      The second part of the CPL seminar was presented by Mr. Alfred Law (羅堅明律師), practicing solicitor and Chairman of RO Association, on the topic: “Trend of Widening Scope of Compliance”.  Mr. Law has over 40 years of experience in commercial practice in Hong Kong and has wide exposure in compliance and licensing consultancy for regulated activities under the Securities and Futures Ordinance. He has advised numerous licensed corporations and persons regarding licensing mattersMr. Law iterated that the traditional concept of compliance is largely limited to the areas of banking and finance, where regulation is tight and scrutiny is close. With cryptocurrency fast gaining its popularity and trade malpractices of ZTE case, the compliance arena has expanded immensely. Mr. Law reviewed the current compliance development in 3 levels: corporate, professional and personal, where he saw regulatory tightening in each level. Mr. Law also highlighted and explained the emerging compliance issues in new business areas, giving rise to practice opportunities for compliance professionals.