Asia: Corporate/Commercial Law

Asset protection during bankruptcy depends on genuine ownership, not trust labels. Property held for others is generally excluded from a bankrupt estate, but beneficial interests, trust debts, and trustee indemnities may still be recoverable. Transfers into trusts can be challenged under undervalue or creditor-defeating provisions if timing, consideration, and purpose raise concerns.

Before amending a trust deed, it is important to carefully review the deed to determine whether the proposed amendment is permitted and what requirements must be followed.

The Court of Appeal has upheld a landmark decision requiring the Australian Tax Office to return settlement payments totaling approximately $15 million that were funded by proceeds from a breach of fiduciary duty.

Venture capital investment involves far more than assessing a startup’s product, revenue potential or market opportunity. Before committing capital, investors examine whether the business has a legally sound structure capable of supporting investment, governance, ownership and future growth. Company structure forms an important part of this assessment because it determines how ownership is recorded, how decisions are made, how investors receive equity and how legal obligations are managed.

The Bangalore bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (‘ITAT’) has held that ESOP expenditure cross-charged by a foreign holding company to its Indian subsidiary is allowable as a deduction under section 37(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ('Act'). The Tribunal reiterated that ESOP discount constitutes employee compensation and gives rise to an ascertained liability during the vesting period and that the possibility of future forfeiture, non-exercise of options, or issuance of a valuation report after the financial year-end does not render the liability contingent or hypothetical.

The AIFC has introduced flexible investment structures for Kazakhstan start-ups, including convertible loans, SAFEs, and options that were previously difficult to implement.

China's Supreme People's Procuratorate has established specialized intellectual property prosecution bases across the country, with Shenzhen People's Procuratorate being the only institution selected from Guangdong Province. These bases will handle complex IP cases involving new technologies and business models while strengthening judicial protection of core technological innovations.

APRA and ASIC have released their 2026–27 Corporate Plans, signalling more intensive supervision and enforcement, alongside targeted measures intended to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden. Their priorities span operational resilience, cyber security, artificial intelligence, consumer protection, insurance, superannuation, market integrity and digital assets. For regulated entities, the plans provide a practical roadmap of the areas most likely to attract supervisory attention, information requests and, where deficiencies are identified, enforcement action.

International Employment Lawyer recently invited employment specialists at Tilleke & Gibbins in Vietnam to share insights on key issues currently impacting employers in the country.

In M/s ASJ Finsolutions Pvt. Ltd. v. Vikram Bajaj, the Supreme Court considered whether the Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) and other amounts paid by a successful bidder in a liquidation auction can be forfeited where the e-auction notice expressly so provides, even though the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016 (the “Regulations”) do not expressly provide for forfeiture.

Queensland's special defences operate under strict timing rules that determine whether a plaintiff can recover costs when a defence emerges after litigation begins. Payment tenders made before proceedings and set-offs require specific legal foundations, and courts retain discretion over cost orders when defences crystallise mid-case.

The Australian Labor Government has released draft legislation that would fundamentally reshape how employers can use non-compete clauses in employment contracts. This proposed reform would prohibit non-compete restrictions for employees earning below $190,100 and impose new limitations on all post-employment restraints, potentially marking the most significant recalibration of Australian restraint of trade law in decades.