Min Ho

Signficant moves by investment fund lawyers in Asia in recent months amid fierce competition may reflect greater optimism about the global economy.

BMO Global Asset Management is moving to hire staff for a Hong Kong-domiciled funds platform – with ETFs the first products planned – and to build up its Asia sales team.

A Sri Lankan government delegation is on the road seeking to overcome investor reservations about the formerly war-torn country – one that does have its foreign supporters.

Chinese private equity firms should not be discouraged from pursuing American assets as a result of any perceived bias against such deals, say US-based lawyers.

Fund houses and banks have set out areas where they want regulators to provide certainty around the China-Hong Kong mutual recognition scheme for funds.

They do not expect Dodd-Frank rules requiring disclosure of past offences to impact the industry, but are urged to familiarise themselves with US law before a September deadline.

Updates to Hong Kong's trust law for the first time in almost 80 years will encourage trust companies to set up shop here. Yet the city must focus on attracting young talent.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the world's second biggest sovereign wealth fund, has appointed a new head of Asia ex-Japan equities.

Some form of the financial transaction tax being debated in Europe will come into force, but what the final rules will look like is still unclear, and a decision is some way off.

The Swedish firm is to make Hong Kong its Asia hub, as it closes its Shanghai research office and relocates staff to the city.

AMP Limited's CEO-in-waiting, Craig Meller, is prioritising growth in China in a drive to turn around its investment management arm's shrinking AUM in Asia following a rout in Japan.

If high-net-worth individuals end up being classed as retail investors in Hong Kong, the likes of hedge funds and private banks may face further compliance headaches.