The brisk pace of the e-commerce and e-finance development has left legislatures in their wake. In Asia, only a handful of jurisdictions have enacted legislation governing electronic transactions, the status of electronic contracts, digital signatures, or internet banking. This is despite the rising popularity of the internet as a medium for the provision of financial services and in re-engineering commerce and trade as we know it.
At a recent conference on internet banking held by Baker McKenzie in Hong Kong, legal eagles gathered to flesh out the legal issues in the financial industry and the legislation in place so far to address them around the region.
Wherever the jurisdiction, however, the issues...
