Letter from… Hong Kong: Asia’s most-desired village can be tough on the locals but the mood of confidence is back

Letter from… Hong Kong: Asia’s most-desired village can be tough on the locals but the mood of confidence is back

Hong Kong, notes Mayer Brown Asia chair Duncan Abate, is like a village: ‘If you are good, you can do really well, if you are not, everyone knows it.’

A village – it is fair to add – that has had more than its share of reverses in recent years. Much lauded up until the early 2010s as the gateway to China and the effective legal and finance capital for the Asia region, in the second half of the decade it has been dogged by protectionism, cut-throat pricing and an excess of lawyers. Continue reading “Letter from… Hong Kong: Asia’s most-desired village can be tough on the locals but the mood of confidence is back”

Davis Polk and Kirkland latest to pare back Hong Kong practices as US firm exits continue

Davis Polk and Kirkland latest to pare back Hong Kong practices as US firm exits continue

Firms retreat as funds raised through IPOs in the region fall 26%

Davis Polk & Wardwell and Kirkland & Ellis are the latest US firms to lose corporate partners from their Hong Kong offices as public listings in the region decline.

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International ambitions: City firm Lewis Silkin launches first overseas office in Hong Kong

City firm Lewis Silkin has this morning (30 April) announced the opening of an office in Hong Kong in a bid to ‘support the rapidly expanding employment and global mobility needs’ of its clients in the Asia-Pacific region.

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Hong Kong Horizons

 MARKET VIEW – ARBITRATION 

Armed with a new set of institutional rules, the HKIAC’s secretary general, Chiann Bao, discusses the importance of providing a flexible, cost-efficient approach to international arbitration with Quinn Emanuel’s John Rhie

‘Users have always appreciated the transparency and neutrality of our administration,’ says Chiann Bao, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC)’s secretary general, of the institution she has served for the past four-and-a-half years. Such assurances are timely, given the release in June by China’s State Council of a white paper demanding that judges in Hong Kong ‘love the country’. This is seen by some commentators as a threat to the judicial independence guaranteed by the ‘one country, two systems’ formula in place since the 1997 handover.

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Hong Kong drive: Addleshaws makes foray into local law two months after HK launch

Addleshaw Goddard’s objective to offer capability across the major disputes and arbitration centres has been given a boost by its launch today (8 August) of a local law practice in Hong Kong through a formal tie up with a newly established local firm led by partners from Minter Ellison and DLA Piper.

The new office will be led by former head of litigation and employment at Minter Ellison, Nigel Francis, and DLA Piper corporate partner Brett Stewien, who have practiced in Hong Kong for 25 and 14 years respectively. Continue reading “Hong Kong drive: Addleshaws makes foray into local law two months after HK launch”

Ropes & Gray boosts London and Hong Kong with double Fried Frank hire

Ropes & Gray is to bolster its City and Hong Kong arms with a two-partner hire from US rival Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson.

In London former Allen & Overy finance partner Mark Wesseldine will join from Fried Frank on 1 May, bringing the City partner and counsel total to 20, while Fried Frank capital markets and M&A partner Victoria Lloyd is to join the Hong Kong office on 13 May.

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Clydes outlines global strategy following Hong Kong exits

Clyde & Co saw seven partners leave its Hong Kong arm in April. Significantly, the departures were all former Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG) partners that Clydes inherited following the two firms’ merger last year.

‘Our strategy in Hong Kong has been to focus on corporate insurance,’ said Peter Hasson, chief executive at Clydes. ‘The loss of our more generalist insurance team in Hong Kong is not an issue for us.’

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