[SMULA] Chinese Legal System and Culture

With its rising economic clout, China has become a magnet for firms from around the world. While the ever-expanding Chinese market provides endless opportunities, many businesses find that the Chinese legal system presents a big challenge to their investment in or trade with China. Deeply influenced by a unique legal tradition spanning over two thousand years, the Chinese legal system that exists today also bears heavy marks left by the Civil Law system, Socialist ideology, as well as the Common Law system in its commercial law. These complexities also make the Chinese legal system challenging to understand for legal practitioners keen to secure a foothold in the promising Chinese market.

This one-day masterclass will provide legal practitioners with a practical understanding of the Chinese legal tradition and modern legal system, and will also cover several important areas in Chinese corporate and commercial law most relevant for legal practice. In particular, this masterclass will cover topics in contract, corporate, takeover practices and securities regulations. The latest legal developments will be discussed and real life cases will be studied. Through this masterclass taught by a leading expert in Chinese law, participants will acquire an in-depth understanding of various aspects of the Chinese legal system and Chinese law necessary for successful legal practice involving the Chinese market.

The outline of the seminar will be as follows: 

• China’s legal tradition
• Modern Chinese legal system
• Issues in Chinese contract law: Enforceability and VIE structure, Pre-contractual liability, Liquidated Damages
• Issues in Chinese corporate law: Companies as debt guarantor, Stock buybacks and PE/VC redemption rights (VAM)
• Hostile takeovers in China
• Issues of securities regulations in China: IPO reform and dual-class listing, Securities class action

 

SPEAKER

Zhang Wei is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean of the Singapore Management University, Yong Pung How School of Law. He earned his law degrees from top law schools in China, Japan and the U.S. Dr. Zhang specializes in corporate and commercial law, law and economics, property law, and Chinese law. He focuses on quantitative empirical studies of law and the effects of legal systems on our society. His works have been published in various peer-reviewed journals in U.S., U.K., mainland China and Taiwan. Dr. Zhang has also been invited as a guest speaker to top universities and regulatory agencies in China, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, as well as the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges and the Shanghai Financial Court. He also taught training sessions for the Asset Management Association of China and the China-Ready Program sponsored by the Ministry of Law.

 

FEES

a. Early Bird Price (registration by 15 October)

Registration fee of S$481.50* (inclusive of GST) applies. 

 

b. Regular Price (registration after 15 October)

Registration fee of S$535* (inclusive of GST) applies. 

 

*Please note that there will be no refund of any fees should the participant cancel the registration/ fail to attend the event. However, registration is transferable. Notice of any change in participant should be sent to the Academy via email: smulawacademy [at] smu.edu.sg, by 22 October 2021.

SMU Law Academy reserves the right to cancel or postpone any event. In such case, we will arrange for the refund of fees paid.

 

The SMU Law Academy (previously known as CLE) has an established track record of providing the legal profession with high quality seminars and other opportunities to remain fully informed about contemporary legal developments in Singapore and beyond. Its carefully curated listing of seminars is developed with the profession’s multi-faceted needs in mind and meets the requirements of the CPD scheme. The Academy also administers the Auditing Scheme which enables members of the legal profession to consolidate and upgrade their understanding of the law by auditing courses in the School’s LL.B., J.D. and LL.M. programmes. For an overview of upcoming SMU Law Academy events, please click here.

This programme is an Accredited CPD Activity under the SILE’s CPD Scheme. Participants who wish to obtain CPD Points are reminded that they must comply strictly with the Attendance Policy set out in the CPD Guidelines. For this activity, this includes signing in on arrival and signing out at the conclusion of the activity in the manner required by the organiser, and not being absent from the entire activity for more than 15 minutes. Participants who do not comply with the Attendance Policy will not be able to obtain CPD Points for attending the activity. Please refer to http://www.silecpdcentre.sg for more information.

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