PRC Supreme Court clears path for shareholders' VAM *

China, Hong Kong - January 21 2013
In the past, international private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investors could be nervous about the fate of net profit guarantee and other…

Co-authors: Niping Wu.

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One online shop, two websites: a post-closing analysis of the Wal-Mart/Yihaodian transaction in the shadow of MOFCOM’s conditional approval *

USA - November 28 2012
Wal-Mart has moved forward to complete its acquisition of a majority interest in the business of Yihaodian, after MOFCOM issued a conditional approval of the transaction that explicitly prohibited Wal-Mart from taking control of Yihaodian's value-added telecom business directly or through a VIE arrangement.

Co-authors: Steven R. Wright.

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MOFCOM's conditional approval of Wal-Mart's acquisition--what does it mean for Wal-Mart and Yihaodian and for the future of the VIE structure? *

China - September 27 2012
A recent MOFCOM ruling effectively allowing Wal-Mart to take a majority interest in the business of Yihaodian, but explicitly forbidding Wal-Mart from taking control of Yihaodian's value-added telecom business, including through a VIE arrangement, raises questions as to how Wal-Mart may reap synergistic value from the transaction and leaves in limbo the future of the VIE structure as a means to avoid PRC restrictions on foreign ownership in certain industries.

Co-authors: Steven R. Wright.

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What the future holds for china’s VIE *

China, USA - September 25 2012
Two recent and noteworthy events in the US and China cause one to ponder what the future holds for the variable interest entity (VIE), an ingenious creation which, for the past decade, has been widely used to attract eager foreign capital, because it seems to have overcome certain People's Republic of China (PRC) regulatory hurdles facing foreign investors while cleverly using US and international accounting standards that would inject financial life in to offshore companies even though such offshore companies do not own an equity stake in the Chinese operations.

Co-authors: Niping Wu.

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China’s top economic planning agency to amend its inbound and outbound investment regulations *

China - August 28 2012
In August 2012, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) published, for public review and comments, drafts of two regulations concerning NDRCs verification and approval of inbound and outbound investment projects

Co-authors: Niping Wu.

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