by：Chikashi Kaneko、Vann Allen P. dela Cruz1.     What is the background of the revision?The Philippine Constitution provides that the operation of a “public utility” shall only be granted to Philippine citizens or to corporations owned by Philippine citizens by at least sixty percent (60%). Thus, limiting foreign ownership over public utilities to a maximum of forty percent (40%). However, the Philippine Constitution did not define what is a “public utility” leaving the definition to government regulators or even the courts.Based on previous rules, “public utility” and “public service” were interchangeable with each other. In the case of Republic of the Philippines…

by：Chikashi Kaneko、Miracle Anne Rodriguez　Arbitration is a mode of dispute resolution under Republic Act No. 876 or the “Arbitration Law” and Republic Act No. 9285 or the “Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Act”. It is a voluntary dispute resolution process in which one or more arbitrators, appointed in accordance with the agreement of the parties, or the applicable rules, resolve a dispute by rendering an award.  　Arbitration and other ADR methods are favored over court actions, which usually take a much longer time to resolve. Unlike in court trials, the parties to arbitration are free to decide on the applicable substantive law, the…

A Qualified Advocate and Solicitor under the Malaysia law（Not admitted in Japan）  /  Saiful AZIZSince 2009, the Malaysian government has gradually liberalized foreign participated in the services sector as a way to encourage foreign investment to invest in Malaysia. The liberalization of these service subsectors would mean that equity restriction for foreigner ownership is abolished and would permit 100 percent foreign ownership in these subsectors. To strengthen the liberalization “incentive”, the government also removed the Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) Guideline. By removing this Guideline, approval of the FIC is not required for transaction for merger, takeover and acquisitions of interest…