On 1 October 2019, the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the Arrangement) came into force.

For further details, please see our first client update and our recent article on the ICC Dispute Resolution Bulletin 2019 (Issue 3).

On 16 December 2019, the HKIAC published information on its practice of processing applications under the Arrangement. The information includes:

  • The methods of submitting an application under the Arrangement to a PRC court;
  • The process for requesting a letter from HKIAC certifying its acceptance of an arbitration (Letter of Acceptance); and
  • HKIAC methods of issuing a Letter of Acceptance.

The HKIAC has also announced that since 1 October 2019, it has received eleven applications under the Arrangement and was aware that at least four of the applications for preservation for assets have been granted by the PRC Court in less than three months since the Arrangement came into force. These statistics shows that applications under the Arrangement are readily accepted by the PRC courts and we expect to continue to see an increasing number of applications taking benefit of the Arrangement.

If you would like to know more about the Arrangement and the latest development, please feel free to contact the authors listed below.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.