Asia Pacific Regional Forum Co-Chair's note

Dear members,

Welcome to our final e-Bulletin for 2021. While this year did not allow us the freedom of movement we were perhaps hoping for, it has nonetheless been eventful and productive. 

Most recently, the Asia Pacific Regional Forum (APRF) took part in the IBA’s Global Showcase, which took place instead of the annual conference in October 2021.  The session, ‘Business Post Usual? Transformation of doing business in the Asia Pacific Region’ was a thoroughly interesting session, and for those of you who did not have opportunity to attend the session, or missed any of the other IBA Global Showcase sessions, we remind you that the sessions are available to watch on the IBA website.  In addition, both the China Working Group and the India Working Group have been running webinars for our members, recordings of which are also available on the IBA website.

Following on from the IBA Global Showcase, the APRF, in conjunction with the India Working Group (IWG) and China Working Group (CWG), are working hard to bring new and interesting sessions to our members in the Asia Pacific Region. We encourage you to ensure that you are signed up to receive information on the various webinars and conferences that we are running for you. 

Webinars that are scheduled to take place in January 2022 include:

• 5 January 2022: Hot topics in compliance part one - Cross-border data transfer: necessity and barriers
• 12 January 2022: Hot topics in compliance part two - The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and global anti-corruption
• 19 January 2022: Hot topics in compliance part three - Antitrust compliance issues in the digital economy
• 21 January 2022: A practical guide to the 2020 Revision of the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration (Part 2)

2022 will hopefully allow us to meet in person again, and we look forward to seeing as many of your faces when we are able to.  While we have not been able to reschedule our APF Biennial Conference for 2022, we are pleased to advise that it is now scheduled to take place as an in person conference in the first quarter of 2023.  Watch this space for more information.

In the meantime, we are pleased to provide you with this e-Bulletin which again covers a wide range of topics, including:

• The latest changes regarding dispute resolution within the Covid-19 pandemic – observations from the Asia Pacific Region;
• The advantages for Asia-based managers of using Luxembourg funds; and
• Thailand’s attempt to extend its reach to overseas e-service providers.

We have also edited the newsletter to include a separate section specifically for our members in India, which is being managed by our India Working Group. Please scroll down to access them.

As always, thank you to all members who have provided content. Without your efforts we would not be able to bring you this thought leadership.

Please also remember that our China Working Group has its own homepage, which you can access here.

Regards,

Clare Corke
Co-Chair, Asia Pacific Regional Forum 
clare.corke@corrs.com.au

Hideaki Roy Umetsu
Co-Chair, Asia Pacific Regional Forum
hideaki.umetsu@mhm-global.com