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Hong Kong SAR, China

Hong Kong SAR, China

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T: +852 3143 8400

F: +852 2327 9321

25th Floor, Dorset House
Taikoo Place, 979 King's Road
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong SAR

Our Hong Kong SAR office forms an integral part in supporting our clients’ inbound and outbound investment strategies across key sectors such as real estate, infrastructure, energy & natural resources (with a focus on renewable & sustainable energy), financial services, sports & entertainment and food & agribusiness.

The team is focused on providing international, regional and local legal services. A significant proportion of the team is fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. The majority of lawyers are Hong Kong SAR qualified, with many also qualified in other jurisdictions such as England and Wales, New York and PRC. The team has extensive knowledge of the cultural and legal systems that affect business and investments in Asia and getting “deals done” and matters settled.

Supported by over 700+ top real estate lawyers globally, our award-winning team offers Asian investors considering high-value acquisitions or developments leading insights in asset classes such as data centers, logistics, mixed-use developments, hospitality & leisure and office & retail, whether into local markets or internationally across the US, UK, Europe and Middle East.

Whether you are an international organization looking to expand your global footprint throughout Asia or a local business buying, selling, investing or developing a major capital asset in Greater China, we provide strong services across the entire life cycle incorporating advice on corporate, commercial, finance and disputes.

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x 2 winner of Energy and Resources Law Firm of the Year – Asian Legal Business Hong Kong Law Awards 2022 & 2021

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Ranked Tier 1 for Real Estate & Construction – Legal 500 Asia Pacific Guide 2023

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x 2 winner of Real Estate Law Firm of the Year – Asian Legal Business Hong Kong Law Awards 2018 & 2020

Introducing our key practice areas

We combine the breadth of our Asian practice and resources with a keen understanding of the global transactional environment. We provide corporate and legal services for Asian matters in areas including joint ventures, mergers & acquisitions and complex cross-border transactions. Complementing our corporate legal services, our firm offers comprehensive advice on employment, competition, data privacy & security and general corporate matters and commercial contracts. Our clients include local and international companies doing business in Greater China, as well as Asian companies doing business throughout the US, UK, Europe and Middle East.

On the finance side, we represent all types of entities including lenders and borrowers, funds and a variety of other non-bank financial institutions in finance, refinance and special situations. Our team possesses a formidable depth of sector-specific experience, enabling us to provide strategically sound and commercially meaningful advice on the most complex transactions.

Our team includes a broad mix of litigators experienced in handling disputes across a wide variety of industry sectors, able to offer clear and concise advice on a full range of issues. Our team has advised plaintiffs and defendants in numerous cases in Hong Kong, and has detailed experience of all aspects of court procedure, having acted on some of the largest and most complex matters throughout Hong Kong.

We also regularly advise our clients on all aspects of the arbitration process, from the drafting and negotiation of an arbitration agreement to the ultimate enforcement of an award locally or internationally. Our experience covers both domestic and international arbitration as well as other forms of alternative dispute resolution. We pride ourselves on our ability to use our knowledge and experience to help our clients achieve a successful resolution of disputes.

We also regularly act for clients in matters related to competition and anti-trust, data protection and privacy law as well as employment law.

Our award-winning real estate team has experience in dealing with all aspects of development from conception through funding, construction, leasing and occupation. Our track record in complex and challenging international markets enables us to assist our clients in making a success of their development opportunities.

We are committed to staying broad and deep across the real estate sector globally and therefore adopt a sector strategy, which means we have teams focused on all other core areas including real estate funds, finance, private equity and disputes.

Our multidisciplinary team brings together highly experienced locally based practitioners with deep understanding in Asian urban development, social and economic infrastructure, and public procurement.

We advise sponsors, lenders, developers and procuring authorities on all aspects of energy developments and investment with a particular focus on offshore and onshore wind, solar and energy from waste projects. We support clients through every step of their project pipeline, from consenting and competition issues, through to financing, structuring and eventual delivery and exit.

Meet The Team

Andrew MacGeoch

Andrew MacGeoch

Partner and Head of Asia Real Estate & Infrastructure Group and Global Co-Head of Hospitality & Leisure Group, Singapore / Hong Kong SAR

+65 6571 6625

Meet The Team

Andrew MacGeoch

Andrew MacGeoch

Partner and Head of Asia Real Estate & Infrastructure Group and Global Co-Head of Hospitality & Leisure Group, Singapore / Hong Kong SAR

+65 6571 6625

Meet The Team

Andrew MacGeoch

Andrew MacGeoch

Partner and Head of Asia Real Estate & Infrastructure Group and Global Co-Head of Hospitality & Leisure Group, Singapore / Hong Kong SAR

+65 6571 6625

Related Insights

Insights
Oct 17, 2024

Hong Kong SAR Policy Address 2024

The Policy Address 2024 of Hong Kong was delivered by the Chief Executive on 16 October 2024 (the “Policy Address”). Among a series of reforms aimed at rejuvenating the city’s economy and enhancing residents’ livelihood, the Government has introduced initiatives to address housing affordability issues, promoting integrated development of culture, sports, and tourism, and building Hong Kong into an international hub for high-calibre talents. We will focus on these keynote policies from the Policy Address and set out in this article a list of key highlights involving the real estate and infrastructure sectors.
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Oct 07, 2024

HK Security of Payment Bill: Government responds to submissions from the public

The Hong Kong Government received 37 submissions from the public in July 2024 regarding the Construction Industry Security of Payment Bill (“Bill”) and held discussions with deputations from different stakeholders at a LegCo meeting on 16 July 2024. On 2 October 2024, in a letter to the LegCo, the Government summarised some of the key points that had been made in the submissions from the public and gave its response to the submissions. While there is no indication from this letter that the Government would make any amendments to the wording of the Bill in relation to the submissions from the public, the letter raises some important points regarding the Bill and some follow-up actions that the Government said that it will undertake to deal with concerns raised by various stakeholders.
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Sep 27, 2024

Smart contracts and the use of arbitration to resolve related disputes

In recent years, technology advancement has introduced new methods for contract formation. In particular, the rise of blockchain technology has led to the emergence of “smart contracts”, which are digital contracts which automatically execute transactions when pre-determined conditions are met. This article provides a brief explanation as to what smart contracts are, and examines some of the potential issues that could arise under Hong Kong law when arbitration is used to resolve smart contract disputes.
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Sep 25, 2024

HK Security of Payment Bill: an insolvency exception to ban against “pay when paid” clauses?

On 16 July 2024, the Hong Kong LegCo Bills Committee which is considering the Construction Industry Security of Payment Bill (“Bill”) held a meeting to receive representations and submissions on the Bill from deputations sent by stakeholders in the construction industry. Some deputations suggested that the Government should consider specifying cases of non-payment caused by bankruptcy of contractual parties at upper tiers in the supply chain as an exception to the ban against “pay when paid” clauses. The deputations argued that this exception would “prevent series of bankruptcy of various contractual parties at lower tiers”.[1]  (Of course, there always will be one or more parties at the lowest levels that will bear the brunt of the bankruptcy further up the contractual chain.)
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Sep 24, 2024

HK Court rejects “Arbitral Confidentiality” Argument in Parallel Court and Arbitration Proceedings

In Beijing Songxianghu Architectural Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd v Kitty Kam [2024] HKCFI 1657 (date of reasons for decision: 19 June 2024), the Hong Kong Court of First Instance (“the Court”) dismissed an application for a confidentiality order – made on the basis of confidentiality protected in the arbitration under the Arbitration Ordinance (Cap 609) – to effectively render the Court proceedings and all information relating to a set of related arbitration proceedings confidential (“Confidentiality Application”). The Court rejected the Defendant’s argument that arbitral confidentiality was being undermined by the Plaintiff’s decision to commence both an arbitration and allegedly “parallel proceedings” in Court, which “effectively left open a loophole that allow the Plaintiff to breach its confidentiality obligations … through the backdoor at its wishes”. This case highlights that arbitral confidentiality is not absolute, and must be balanced with the fundamental principle of open administration of justice when a party discloses information in protecting or pursuing a legal right or interest in legal proceedings.
Insights
Sep 02, 2024

HK Court Overrules Arbitrator’s Decision regarding Compatibility of Arbitration Agreements

In SYL v GIF [2024] HKCFI 1324 (date of judgment: 20 May 2024), the Hong Kong Court of First Instance (“the Court”) set aside an Interim Award made by the arbitral tribunal (“Tribunal”) in an HKIAC-administered arbitration. The award related to an unsuccessful jurisdictional challenge made before the Tribunal. A single arbitration was commenced in relation to three separate but related contracts. The Court was required to analyse the meaning and effect of “mutatis mutandis” in a Loan Agreement context / relationship, where two related Security Deeds provided that the dispute resolution provision in the Loan Agreement applied “mutatis mutandis”. The Court agreed with the plaintiff on both of what had been labelled by the parties as (i) the “Compatibility Ground” (that the arbitration agreements in the three contracts are incompatible with one another), and (ii) the “Agreement Ground” (that the composition of the Tribunal was defective because the appointment had not been done in accordance with the parties’ agreement under the three contracts). The Court therefore set aside the Interim Award made by the Tribunal. Following on from our earlier article on AAA, BBB, CCC v DDD [2024] HKCFI 513 (which covered the situation where there is a group of related contracts and two or more of those contracts have different dispute resolution clauses), this case of SYL v GIF addresses the opposite situation where the same dispute resolution provision applies “mutatis mutandis” to separate but related contracts (i.e. purports to have the same dispute resolution clauses but “with all necessary changes having been made”). The case of SYL v GIF demonstrates neatly that the “mutatis mutandis” drafting “shortcut” might not result in disputes in all related contracts being able to be brought in a single arbitration.
Insights
Aug 22, 2024

HK Court of Appeal set aside arbitral award for the absence of underlying disputes

In CMBICDHAW Investments Limited v CDH Fund V Limited Partnership & others [2024] HKCA 516 (judgment date: 10 July 2024), the Hong Kong Court of Appeal (CA) addressed an appeal regarding the Court of First Instance’s (CFI) decision to set aside parts of an arbitral award due to the absence of a relevant dispute. The disputed portions included a declaration of non-liability and additional comments made by the arbitrator. The CA determined that no relevant dispute existed to establish the arbitrator’s jurisdiction and that there was an abuse of process.
Insights
Aug 05, 2024

HK Government responds to 19 June letter from LegCo in-house lawyer regarding the Security of Payment Bill

Our earlier Insight “LegCo in-house lawyers request clarifications regarding the Security of Payment Bill” reported that the Legal Service Division of the LegCo wrote a letter on 19 June 2024 to the HK Government seeking to clarify certain matters in the Construction Industry Security of Payment Bill (“Bill”). On 18 July 2024, the HK Government responded by a letter.
Insights
Jul 25, 2024

Hong Kong unveils proposals for first cybersecurity law

The Hong Kong Government recently submitted its proposed legislative framework to enhance protection of computer systems of critical infrastructure (“Proposal”) to the Legislative Council (“LegCo”) Panel on Security for discussion on 2 July 2024. The Proposal notes that currently, Hong Kong does not have any statutory requirements on the protection of the computer systems of critical infrastructures (“CIs”). Given that there is an increasing risk of CIs being cyberattacked, the HK Government recognises the need to introduce new law to enhance cybersecurity of CIs. The proposed legislation tentatively is titled the “Protection of Critical Infrastructure (Computer System) Bill”.

Related Insights

Insights
Oct 17, 2024
Hong Kong SAR Policy Address 2024
The Policy Address 2024 of Hong Kong was delivered by the Chief Executive on 16 October 2024 (the “Policy Address”). Among a series of reforms aimed at rejuvenating the city’s economy and enhancing residents’ livelihood, the Government has introduced initiatives to address housing affordability issues, promoting integrated development of culture, sports, and tourism, and building Hong Kong into an international hub for high-calibre talents. We will focus on these keynote policies from the Policy Address and set out in this article a list of key highlights involving the real estate and infrastructure sectors.
Insights
Oct 07, 2024
HK Security of Payment Bill: Government responds to submissions from the public
The Hong Kong Government received 37 submissions from the public in July 2024 regarding the Construction Industry Security of Payment Bill (“Bill”) and held discussions with deputations from different stakeholders at a LegCo meeting on 16 July 2024. On 2 October 2024, in a letter to the LegCo, the Government summarised some of the key points that had been made in the submissions from the public and gave its response to the submissions. While there is no indication from this letter that the Government would make any amendments to the wording of the Bill in relation to the submissions from the public, the letter raises some important points regarding the Bill and some follow-up actions that the Government said that it will undertake to deal with concerns raised by various stakeholders.
Insights
Sep 27, 2024
Smart contracts and the use of arbitration to resolve related disputes
In recent years, technology advancement has introduced new methods for contract formation. In particular, the rise of blockchain technology has led to the emergence of “smart contracts”, which are digital contracts which automatically execute transactions when pre-determined conditions are met. This article provides a brief explanation as to what smart contracts are, and examines some of the potential issues that could arise under Hong Kong law when arbitration is used to resolve smart contract disputes.
Insights
Sep 25, 2024
HK Security of Payment Bill: an insolvency exception to ban against “pay when paid” clauses?
On 16 July 2024, the Hong Kong LegCo Bills Committee which is considering the Construction Industry Security of Payment Bill (“Bill”) held a meeting to receive representations and submissions on the Bill from deputations sent by stakeholders in the construction industry. Some deputations suggested that the Government should consider specifying cases of non-payment caused by bankruptcy of contractual parties at upper tiers in the supply chain as an exception to the ban against “pay when paid” clauses. The deputations argued that this exception would “prevent series of bankruptcy of various contractual parties at lower tiers”.[1]  (Of course, there always will be one or more parties at the lowest levels that will bear the brunt of the bankruptcy further up the contractual chain.)
Insights
Sep 24, 2024
HK Court rejects “Arbitral Confidentiality” Argument in Parallel Court and Arbitration Proceedings
In Beijing Songxianghu Architectural Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd v Kitty Kam [2024] HKCFI 1657 (date of reasons for decision: 19 June 2024), the Hong Kong Court of First Instance (“the Court”) dismissed an application for a confidentiality order – made on the basis of confidentiality protected in the arbitration under the Arbitration Ordinance (Cap 609) – to effectively render the Court proceedings and all information relating to a set of related arbitration proceedings confidential (“Confidentiality Application”). The Court rejected the Defendant’s argument that arbitral confidentiality was being undermined by the Plaintiff’s decision to commence both an arbitration and allegedly “parallel proceedings” in Court, which “effectively left open a loophole that allow the Plaintiff to breach its confidentiality obligations … through the backdoor at its wishes”. This case highlights that arbitral confidentiality is not absolute, and must be balanced with the fundamental principle of open administration of justice when a party discloses information in protecting or pursuing a legal right or interest in legal proceedings.
Insights
Sep 02, 2024
HK Court Overrules Arbitrator’s Decision regarding Compatibility of Arbitration Agreements
In SYL v GIF [2024] HKCFI 1324 (date of judgment: 20 May 2024), the Hong Kong Court of First Instance (“the Court”) set aside an Interim Award made by the arbitral tribunal (“Tribunal”) in an HKIAC-administered arbitration. The award related to an unsuccessful jurisdictional challenge made before the Tribunal. A single arbitration was commenced in relation to three separate but related contracts. The Court was required to analyse the meaning and effect of “mutatis mutandis” in a Loan Agreement context / relationship, where two related Security Deeds provided that the dispute resolution provision in the Loan Agreement applied “mutatis mutandis”. The Court agreed with the plaintiff on both of what had been labelled by the parties as (i) the “Compatibility Ground” (that the arbitration agreements in the three contracts are incompatible with one another), and (ii) the “Agreement Ground” (that the composition of the Tribunal was defective because the appointment had not been done in accordance with the parties’ agreement under the three contracts). The Court therefore set aside the Interim Award made by the Tribunal. Following on from our earlier article on AAA, BBB, CCC v DDD [2024] HKCFI 513 (which covered the situation where there is a group of related contracts and two or more of those contracts have different dispute resolution clauses), this case of SYL v GIF addresses the opposite situation where the same dispute resolution provision applies “mutatis mutandis” to separate but related contracts (i.e. purports to have the same dispute resolution clauses but “with all necessary changes having been made”). The case of SYL v GIF demonstrates neatly that the “mutatis mutandis” drafting “shortcut” might not result in disputes in all related contracts being able to be brought in a single arbitration.
Insights
Aug 22, 2024
HK Court of Appeal set aside arbitral award for the absence of underlying disputes
In CMBICDHAW Investments Limited v CDH Fund V Limited Partnership & others [2024] HKCA 516 (judgment date: 10 July 2024), the Hong Kong Court of Appeal (CA) addressed an appeal regarding the Court of First Instance’s (CFI) decision to set aside parts of an arbitral award due to the absence of a relevant dispute. The disputed portions included a declaration of non-liability and additional comments made by the arbitrator. The CA determined that no relevant dispute existed to establish the arbitrator’s jurisdiction and that there was an abuse of process.
Insights
Aug 05, 2024
HK Government responds to 19 June letter from LegCo in-house lawyer regarding the Security of Payment Bill
Our earlier Insight “LegCo in-house lawyers request clarifications regarding the Security of Payment Bill” reported that the Legal Service Division of the LegCo wrote a letter on 19 June 2024 to the HK Government seeking to clarify certain matters in the Construction Industry Security of Payment Bill (“Bill”). On 18 July 2024, the HK Government responded by a letter.
Insights
Jul 25, 2024
Hong Kong unveils proposals for first cybersecurity law
The Hong Kong Government recently submitted its proposed legislative framework to enhance protection of computer systems of critical infrastructure (“Proposal”) to the Legislative Council (“LegCo”) Panel on Security for discussion on 2 July 2024. The Proposal notes that currently, Hong Kong does not have any statutory requirements on the protection of the computer systems of critical infrastructures (“CIs”). Given that there is an increasing risk of CIs being cyberattacked, the HK Government recognises the need to introduce new law to enhance cybersecurity of CIs. The proposed legislation tentatively is titled the “Protection of Critical Infrastructure (Computer System) Bill”.