According to Deborah Mao in this article published today on businessweek.com, regulators for the city of Hong Kong has proposed new legislation that would permit representative actions for certain consumer class actions. The legislation is reportedly a response, at least in part, to concerns about the difficulty of shareholders to seek collective redress for alleged acts of securities fraud, although the new law would not initial apply to securities fraud claims.
The legislation would likely provide for class actions to be financed through a public legal aid program rather than through contingency fees, as is typically the case in the United States. The proposal is still in the early stages, and specific legislation remains to be “drafted and introduced,” according to an official quoted in the article.
We’ll keep an eye on future developments relating to the proposed legislation. Stay tuned…
