Susan Munro

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In 2015, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) enacted the first part of its comprehensive data security regime with the promulgation of the State Security Law, which provided a statutory basis for the construction of a nationwide network and information security system.  The Cybersecurity Law (CSL), which followed in 2017, addressed cybersecurity protection and introduced the concept of a “Critical Information Infrastructure Operator” (CIIO).  Subsequently, other laws, regulations, and rules have been promulgated addressing the requirements of China’s digital economy, related state security matters, and personal information privacy rights. Among those, the Data Security Law (DSL) became effective on September 1, 2021, and the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) will go into effect on November 1, 2021.  After subsidiary regulations and rules addressing implementation of the DSL and PIPL have entered into force, China’s new data security architecture should be largely complete.
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Continue Reading China Builds Out Data Security Architecture With New Regulations on Cross Border Data Transfers

China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law (the “Law”), which was enacted and became effective on June 10, 2021, authorizes the Chinese government to develop an “anti-sanctions list” and to impose countermeasures on listed persons involved in “discriminatory restrictive measures.”  It also creates a private right of action for Chinese citizens and organizations to sue in a Chinese…

Two important anti-corruption due diligence tools published their 2020 results in November 2020 and January 2021. While the results are largely consistent, there are some important differences and some key improvements and declines in the Transparency International 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index and the TRACE 2020 Bribery Risk Matrix.

To comprehensively understand the risks and take…

On December 11, 2020, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a much-anticipated report under Section 5(b) of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (HKAA) that—to the relief of non-US financial institutions, including those in Hong Kong—stated the Treasury Department had not identified any foreign financial institution (FFI) at risk of secondary sanctions under the HKAA at this time.

Background

Under Section 5(b) of the HKAA, Congress directed the Treasury Department to identify any FFI that knowingly conducted a significant transaction with a person identified by the State Department in a report under Section 5(a) of the HKAA. The State Department issued its report on October 14, 2020, identifying ten individuals, including Hong Kong’s Chief Executive and other prominent government officials.

(For more information about the HKAA and the State Department’s Section 5(a) report, see our blog post of October 15, 2020, “Update: Hong Kong Financial Institutions Face US Secondary Sanctions after State Department Issues First Report under Hong Kong Autonomy Act.”)

Under the HKAA, FFIs identified in a Section 5(b) report could be subject to a “menu” of ten secondary sanctions described in Section 7 of the HKAA. Those sanctions would become mandatory after one year of the report’s issuance.…

Continue Reading Financial Institutions Spared, for Now, from Secondary Sanctions after Treasury Department Issues ‘Null Report’ Under Section 5(b) of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act

On October 14, 2020, the U.S. State Department issued a much-anticipated report pursuant to Section 5(a) of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (HKAA), identifying ten individuals who were determined by the State Department to be “foreign persons” who “are materially contributing to, have materially contributed to, or attempt to materially contribute to the failure of the PRC to meet its obligations under” the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 or Hong Kong’s Basic Law.

Under Section 5(b) of the HKAA, the U.S. Treasury Department is now given 30 to 60 days to release a report identifying any foreign financial institution (FFI) “that knowingly conducts a significant transaction with a foreign person identified” in the October 14 report. This report could be released by mid-November or December. Within one year of this Section 5(b) report, the Treasury Department could impose secondary sanctions on the FFIs identified therein, based on a menu of 10 sanctions laid out in Section 7 of the HKAA.

In conjunction with the State Department’s report, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued four Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) providing additional guidance on how the agency intends to implement the secondary sanctions.

For additional background on this issue and a description of the secondary sanctions under the HKAA, see our blog post of July 15, 2020, “U.S. Executive Order Implements, Strengthens Hong Kong Sanctions.”…

Continue Reading Update: Hong Kong Financial Institutions Face U.S. Secondary Sanctions after State Department Issues First Report under Hong Kong Autonomy Act

On May 29, President Trump announced in a White House news conference the US government would “begin the process” to revoke the “full range of agreements” providing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China separate treatment from mainland China under US law on topics including “export controls on dual use technologies,” among others, “with…

On May 29, 2020, President Trump announced in a White House news conference that the US government would begin taking steps to revoke the “full range of agreements” providing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China separate treatment under US law on topics including customs, extradition, and export controls “with few exceptions.” The United States also plans to sanction Chinese and Hong Kong officials “directly or indirectly involved in eroding” Hong Kong’s autonomy, the President announced.

The President’s announcement contained few specifics on the proposed measures or a timeline for their implementation. We anticipate additional guidance and actions from the US Departments of State, Treasury, and Commerce in the coming days and weeks.  …

Continue Reading United States to Take Steps to Revoke Hong Kong’s Separate Status, Impose Sanctions and Enhanced Export Controls after Beijing National Security Vote

Click here to read the full Client Advisory by Steptoe.

On January 23, 2020, Transparency International published its 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI),  which measures perceptions of public sector corruption in 180 countries. Viewed together with the 2019 TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix,  which also includes private sector corruption, the Asia Pacific (APAC)…

Click here to read the full Client Advisory by Steptoe.

Of the record-breaking USD 2.9 billion in fines imposed by US authorities in 2019 for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), almost 95% involved Asia Pacific, primarily China and India, but also Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and South Korea.

This year, the US…

Click here to read the full Client Advisory by Steptoe.

On December 28, 2019, China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) published a new draft Export Control Law (the draft law) for public comment. As China’s first export control statute, this law is intended to unify and significantly enhance China’s existing export control…