New Issue: SSRN Legal Studies Research Paper Series (HKU)

Vol. 7, No. 3: 7 June 2017

Table of Contents

1. Does Hong Kong Remain an Equivalent Jurisdiction for the EU Credit Rating Regime?

Syren Johnstone, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, Asian Institute of International Financial Law

2. Moving beyond Consent for Citizen Science in Big Data Health Research

Anne S. Y. Cheung, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

3. From FinTech to TechFin: The Regulatory Challenges of Data-Driven Finance

Dirk A. Zetzsche, ADA Chair in Financial Law / Inclusive Finance, University of Luxembourg, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf - Faculty of Law - Center for Business & Corporate Law (CBC)

Ross P. Buckley, University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Faculty of Law

Douglas W. Arner, University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Janos Nathan Barberis, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

4. Chinese Constitutionalism: An Oxymoron?

Wen-Chen Chang, National Taiwan University College of Law

David S. Law, Washington University in St. Louis - School of Law, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law, Washington University in St. Louis - Department of Political Science

Syren Johnstone on Crediting Ratings and the Moody's Case in Hong Kong (HKLJ)

"Credit Ratings: The Moody's Case"
Syren Johnstone
Hong Kong Law Journal
2017, Vol 47, Issue 1, pp 193-220

Abstract: In Moody’s Investors Service Hong Kong Ltd v Securities and Futures Commission, the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal was required to determine whether a report issued by Moody’s fell within the scope of Hong Kong’s statutorily defined credit rating regime. The Tribunal determined that the report was either itself a credit rating or part and parcel of Moody’s credit rating services. This article analyses the Tribunal’s determination and concludes that it is flawed primarily as a result of concerns over its application of the purposive construction of statutory provisions and a failure to closely analyse the statutorily defined term “credit rating”. It is suggested that the determination gives rise to problematic consequences including blurring the regulatory perimeter of what constitutes a credit rating and providing credit rating services.

New Issue of Hong Kong Law Journal (Part 1 of 2017)

Hong Kong Law Journal

Vol. 47, Part 1 of 2017

Editor-in-Chief: Professor Rick Glofcheski

Associate Editor: Professor Albert Chen

Table of Contents

Analysis
Legislative Oaths and Judicial Intervention in Hong Kong Po Jen Yap and Eric Chan	1
Ho Kwok Tai v Collector of Stamp Revenue — Analysis and Implications Stefano Mariani	17
Lectures
Outraging Public Decency: In Your Face and Up Your Skirt — The Dynamism and Limits of the Common Law Hon Mr Justice Fok PJ	33
Understanding Cross-Border Insolvency in the Hong Kong Context Hon Mr Justice Harris	55
Global Constitutionalism — Some Critical Remarks Jaakko Husa	73
ARTICLES
Well-known Trade Marks and Dissimilar Goods: HK, UK and EU Law Alice Lee	89
Copyright v Freedom of Contract: The “Contract Override” Issue in Hong Kong’s Copyright Amendment Wenwei Guan	115
Losing Out in Powering Innovation: The Necessity of Introducing Research and Development Tax Incentives in Hong Kong Jingyi Wang	143
Legal Protection of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Context of the Creative Economy Jing Zhuo	171
Credit Ratings: The Moody’s Case Syren Johnstone	193
The Hong Kong Subconstitutional Model of Separation of Powers: The Case of Weak Judicial Review Guobin Zhu and Antonios Kouroutakis	221
CHINA LAW
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses: Problems, Improvements and Potential Influence on China Zewei Yang	243
Letter of Indemnity in Carriage of Goods by Sea: Chinese Law and Judicial Practice Liang Zhao	265
MEMOIR
Hong Kong in 1963–1964: Adventures of a Budding China Watcher Jerome A Cohen	291
BOOK REVIEWS
Advanced Introduction to the Law of International Organizations, Jan Klabbers Amy Barrow	311
Title and Title Conflicts in respect of Intermediated Securities under English Law, Dr Wenwen Liang Guangjian Tu	317

Syren Johnstone on Hong Kong and the EU Credit Rating Regime (SSRN Paper)

"Does Hong Kong Remain an Equivalent Jurisdiction for the EU Credit Rating Regime?"

Syren Johnstone
SSRN HKU Faculty of Law Research Paper No 2017/
April 2017

Abstract: Credit ratings issued by credit rating agencies regulated in Hong Kong are serviceable in the European Union (EU) because Hong Kong is recognized for these purposes as an equivalent jurisdiction. The perimeter of Hong Kong’s credit rating regime has recently come under the scrutiny of the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal, which has established important boundary lines impacting on the authorization, supervision and enforcement of the credit rating industry in Hong Kong. This article analyzes the case and identifies four elements central to it, namely, the information-based, document-based and act-based perimeters of the Hong Kong regime as well as its primary regulatory objective. It is suggested that the Tribunal’s approach to these elements may represent a material departure of Hong Kong’s legal and supervisory framework from the regime in the EU that could adversely affect Hong Kong’s standing as an equivalent jurisdiction.  Click here to download the full paper.