Our Partner and Head of Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department, Ms. Heidi Chui, has been re-appointed by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of HKSAR as a member of Disciplinary Panel of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accounts (HKICPA), for a term of two years effective from 1 February 2022.

With the recent escalation of cybercrime and internet scams, we have handled a wide range of asset tracing and recovery actions domestically and internationally.   As time is of the essence, there always is the risk that the misappropriated assets would be dissipated quickly.  To advise our clients taking out costs-effective applications for Mareva and/or proprietary injunction and/or banker’s trust orders against the fraudsters in a timely manner with further assets tracing, if necessary, we have assisted our clients recovering the stolen monies by and large in the current legal system.

Traditionally, upon receipt of any victim’s Suspicious Transaction Report (“STR”) or police report, the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (“JFIU”) of the HK Police Force (“HKPF”) may issue a Letter of No Consent (“LNC”) to the relevant financial institution(s), pursuant to which the recipient should stop further disposal of the misappropriated assets.  A financial institution disregarded the LNC and allowed the assets to be transferred out of the account would be liable for an offence under Section 25 of the Organised Serious Crime Ordinance, Cap. 455 (“OSCO”).

However, in a recent Hong Kong case Tam Sze Leung & Ors v Commissioner of Police [2021] HKCFI 3118, the Court of First Instance on 30 December 2021 held that the LNC regime is unlawful.

We are delighted to announce that China Business Law Journal (CBLJ) has named our Partner Hank Lo, who is Head of our firm’s Corporate Finance Department, and Partner Heidi Chui, Head of Banking and Finance and the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Departments, on their A-List China’s Elite 100 Lawyers (Foreign Lawyers) for their extensive experience and exceptional recognition by clients.

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Our Partner, Mr. Gordon Tsang was invited to speak on the regulations and risks of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC) at the 2022 Hong Kong Investment Forum held on 20 January 2022 and also, act as a panel speaker for “Strategies in Maximizing Investment Returns for Investors and Start-ups”. The full-day forum “Invest for a Better Future with Innovation- From SPAC to METAVERSE” was organised by LBS Communications Consulting Limited. Distinguished experts and industry-leading companies, including AAX and Huobi Tech, were invited to discuss up-and-coming investment trends and opportunities of the Metaverse and SPACs in Hong Kong.

We are delighted to announce that our SW Private Client Practice has once again been recognised by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific Guide- Private Client (Tax, Trusts, Wealth Management and Contentious Probate) for the 2^nd consecutive year. The Legal 500’s research team surveyed and interviewed more than 300,000 corporate counsels globally in the past year. Firms listed in the guide are highly regarded and recommended by counsels and clients.