Skip to content

About us

eCounsel group

A boutique firm with unparalleled expertise in business and technology. We have good command of industrial ecology and legal practice, and have undertaken highly regarded cases. Because the small business scope, we pay more emphasis on effectiveness and efficiency, and choose clients with deliberation. The managing partner not only has extensive experiences in various legal issues more over than 20 years, but invests and manages several technology companies. In addition, he always checks each case rigorously. Clients’ business objectives are our primary focus. To achieve the same in the most cost-effective fashion trumps all seemingly sophisticated legal discussions.

Is Stable Coin Stable Enough?

2018 - 10 - 29

The so-called stable coin, USDT, has dropped significantly against USD on 10/15. While USDT typically values in a range of 0.99 to 1.01 when compared against USD, it dropped to as low as 0.85 on the Kraken exchange on 10/15. In this sense, whether stable coin is actually stable enough still remains a heated debate.

USDT has long come under scrutiny ever since its launch, over whether it actually holds enough reserves to match the tokens.  Since Tether is privately held, it has yet disclose any official audits, which investors have repeatedly demanded.

A study released by UT Austin further claimed that USDT was heavily used to artificially inflate bitcoin prices (significantly during the 2017 peak). “Tether seems to be used both to stabilize and manipulate Bitcoin prices,” finance professor John Griffin and co-author Amin Shams wrote in the study.

Since the “fall” of USDT (tho it is still the biggest stable coin player in the game), several numbers of stablecoins have risen, including the Gemini Dollar, PAXOS, TUSD, HUSD, etc. For these newly risen stablecoins, the question now is: can they stay stable?

Bitcoin prices have been manipulated, study says – CNN

Major cryptocurrencies jump as the controversial dollar-pegged token tether falls – CNBC

People are freaking out about Tether – Financial Times

Puerto Rico’s Noble Bank Seeks Sale Amid Crypto Slide – Bloomberg

Is Bitcoin Really Un-Tethered? – John M. Griffin

The Audio Recordings Bitfinex doesn’t want you to hear. – @Bitfinex’ed

Recommended article 

Healthcare vs. Drug Price

Media in Taiwan has been reporting that drug price investigations result in low drug prices and pharmaceutical companies threaten to leave Taiwan. Continue reading

Internal Control Systems : Born With Flaws ( Part 1 )

Many corporations don’t respond to external changes and fail to review their internal control system accordingly in a timely fashion. 內控機制的先天缺陷 – 無法即時因應營運上之調整) 許多公司未及時因應環境的改變檢討內部控制制度。內部控制制度並非一旦經過初次的設計、建立後便可高枕無憂,不論是內在外在環境的改變都會使現有的內部控制制度出現瑕疵,所以隨時檢討並且調整公司現有的內部控制也是不可輕忽的一環。 許多上市櫃公司的內部控制制度是為了配合公開發行或是上市櫃申請而設計,在達到公司的目的之後可能就因為人力成本問題或是管理階層對內控的重視程度使內部控制制度無法及時更新,縱使書面控制制度部分有依照法規加以修改,可能在實際流程上仍未配合改善,致使書面內部控制制度流程與實際運作流程不符。 內部控制制度如果沒有跟著環境條件的改變而作出應變,將會帶來很多的衍生的問題,以下會舉例讓各位容易理解。在舉例之前先解釋一下銷售模式及授信條件: 銷售模式可以大概分成兩種,B2B(business to business)與B2C(business to customer),前者是指公司行號間的生意往來,後者則是指公司行號與一般消費者的交易模式。B2B與B2C的最大差別在於兩者著重的發展策略並不相同,前者著重企業間網路的建立與供應鏈體系之穩固;後者則必須倚靠規模經濟,吸引購買、降低售價來增加利潤,發展策略大不相同。 授信條件是一種風險控制的手段,是根據交易往來對象的信用情況來決定交易相關細節必須如何訂定。商業交易當中付款期間(payment term)與授信總額是最常見的兩種授信條件。企業間往來的情況,通常買家會要求賣家有先出貨的義務,出完貨後過了一段時間才結清貨款,在出貨後到買方真正付清或款之間的時間就是所謂的付款期間。 授信總額則是賣方的生產線在特定的時間內可以接受買方多少額度的訂單,雖然說賣方通常希望可以將產能發揮到極致,訂單當然是越多越好,但是有時候還是必須考量交易往來對象的財力與信用,試想,如果一家資本額兩百萬、信用狀況不良的公司在短時間內提出高達一億元貨款的訂單而且還要求出貨兩個月再付款,這個生意可能就不會有人要做。 例子1,台灣的A車廠專門生產私家轎車,交易往來對象都是租車公司,專門銷售其所製造的汽車給這些租車公司。無奈景氣寒冬的降臨,大部分的合作對象不是關門大吉就是轉往海外發展,經過考慮A車廠決定要由B2B轉型成B2C的銷售模式,銷售模式一旦改變授信條件也必須會跟著改變,以前出貨給租車公司是有兩個月的付款期間,賣車給一般消費者則是付現或是由銀行貸款給消費者,相關的內部控制作業就必須跟著改變,但是負責內部控制作業的內部稽核人員並不一定即時了解此變革,其沿用B2B的銷售模式將會導致貨款無法立刻收到。 例子2,B車商本來從事的就是B2C的銷售模式,但是由於經濟不景氣使得本來靠付現或是向銀行貸款買車客人人數大幅下降,連帶影響B車商的生計。車商為了生存只好祭出優惠方案,一台80萬的車只要付頭期款3萬元,剩餘77萬的金額以零利率分期付款每個月一萬元的方式來清償,附上77萬元的本票以及信用卡扣款授權書就可以將新車開回家。如此一來,B車商的銷售模式與授信條件都與本來不同,內部稽核人員就必須要去追蹤該買車顧客的信用情況是否良好,有無破產情況或是退票紀錄,若有則不能使用此優惠專案,這就是授信條件的控制。但是要做出這樣的追蹤作業的前提也是:內部稽核人員即時得知此優惠專案之推出而作出應變,否則一樣會有原有內控制度與現行銷售模式脫軌的情形發生。

Class-Action Suit Against Uber

To many, Uber is sleek and convenient, but this is not about the service itself. We would like to discuss its “class”. 對很多人來說,Uber的服務很方便也很新潮,但本文並不打算評價Uber服務本身好壞,我們想要談談這世上最有錢(當然是創投砸的)新創公司的「格調」。 目前,Uber的司機數已達三十萬人。在他們的簽訂的工作合約中,Uber規定: 1. 不准去法院告Uber,有問題只准提仲裁 2. 不准聯手其他司機對Uber提出集體訴訟 Technicality Ties Up Uber Technologies In the agreement…