This article first examines the composition of the shadow banking system in China and then critically analyses its interconnectivity with the traditional banking system and global capital markets. It argues that whilst shadow bank lending in China contributes to the country's economic growth,...

The focus of this article is on cross-border insolvency (CBI) cases, particularly those across the border of Hong Kong and China (the Hong Kong-China CBI cases). CBI cases can initiate from the filing of a petition by a foreign party (eg the creditors of the debtor company in Hong Kong) against...

This article examines why regulatory arbitrage and the interconnectivity between the traditional banking and shadow banking systems amplified the pro-cyclicality during the global financial crisis of 2007-2009; and discusses why the regulatory focus should turn to reducing the interconnectedness of...

Equity crowdfunding is a relatively new investment format that allows investors to purchase unlisted securities from a company that does not meet listing requirements for an initial public offering. Equity crowdfunding offers investment rewards but also has risks of fraud, herding, insolvency...

This article examines banks’ de-risking practices inside Hong Kong’s Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime, a problem that has created considerable tension between the demands of AML/CFT prevention and those of financial inclusion. It unravels the...

The closure of many small and medium enterprises (“SMEs”) following the global financial crisis of 2008 spurred the Chinese government to follow its international counterparts in issuing an economic stimulus package. While it was effective in preventing many financially distressed SMEs from...

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (Lehman or LBHI) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States (the US) Bankruptcy Court on 15 September 2008. It was the largest ever bankruptcy in the world, involving pre-filing assets of US$691 billion. The bankruptcy of Lehman proved to be a complex and...

In the global financial crisis of 2007-2009, concern of systemic risk ultimately forced many national governments to take unprecedented action to inject liquidity, provide capital support and give guarantees to domestic and international financial institutions considered as systemically...

From July 1988 when the original Basel Accord, Basel I, was introduced until January 2013 when Basel III implementation began, over the past 25 years, capital adequacy requirements have emerged as the dominant form of regulation for maintaining the financial soundness of banks. The rationale for...