BRITISH laws would not changed after 1997 if the territory's trade and economic activities would be damaged by doing so, Simon Li Fook-sean, convenor of the legal sub-group of the Preliminary Working Committee (PWC) said yesterday.
Companies registered under the British Royal Charter, such as the Standard Chartered Bank, enjoyed procedural exemptions from company laws in Hong Kong, he said.
The sub-group agreed that companies registered under British law before 1997 should continue their privileges, but those registered after 1997 should not have the same right, Mr Li said.
He denied that would mean the Standard Chartered Bank would lose its right to issue banknotes.
All laws related to the Commonwealth should be amended or repealed, but the sub-group had yet to come up with any proposal on how to change them, he said.
The sub-group would suggest changing such laws on the principle that they would not pose any problems to Hong Kong's economy, he said.
