Appleby > Hong Kong, Hong Kong > Firm Profile

Appleby Offices

Appleby
Suites 4201-03 & 12, 42/F, One Island East
Taikoo Place, 18 Westlands Road
Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Visit website 852 2523 8123 852 2524 5548

Appleby > The Legal 500 Rankings

Hong Kong > Offshore law firms Tier 2

Acting on its own, as well as collaborating closely alongside other key offshore offices, including Bermuda, BVI and the Cayman Islands, Appleby provides ‘very responsive, practical and cost-effective advice’ directly to clients as well as in a referral capacity across a wide range of transactional, regulatory and litigation matters. In his dual role as managing partner and corporate head, David Bulley has guided the firm through a challenging market, and has been very effective in picking up a considerable volume of distressed M&A for fund clients, as well as a number of key roles advising on the offshore aspects of Chinese real estate restructurings. One of many in the office with excellent language skills, the ‘proactive and commercial’ Judy Lee is ‘popular among Chinese clients’ on the offshore advice pursuant to both debt and equity capital markets matters. The ‘very approachable and technically sound’ Fiona Chan also has exceptional language skills which she harnesses to good effect across a range of banking and finance work. Other key transactional lawyers include Vincent Chan, who is ‘approachable and knowledgeable’ on M&A and IPO matters, and Chris Cheng, who provides ‘practical insights and advice’ on both international and HKSE listings. Eliot Simpson heads up the office’s litigation team and is noted, in particular, for shareholder and corporate disputes work as well as contentious insolvency matters. Richard Grasby heads up the office’s nascent private client offering and is ‘very strong on the technical points of both trusts and the regulatory issues’. 

Practice head(s):

David Bulley; Eliot Simpson; Richard Grasby

Other key lawyers:

Fiona Chan; Judy Lee; Marc Parrott; Vincent Chan; Chris Cheng; Crystal Au-Yeung; Ida Nylund; Grace Yeung

Testimonials

‘They provide very responsive, practical and cost-effective advice.’

‘Fiona Chan is highly recommended for banking work. Her Chinese language skills put her at an advantage against her competitors in offshore banking work where Chinese language is important. She is also very reliable and responsive.’

‘Vincent Chan is approachable and knowledgeable.’

‘Judy Lee is highly recommended for corporate work. Particular for her trilingual language ability.’

‘Fiona Chan is very approachable and technically sound.’

‘Chris Cheng offers practical insights and advice.’

‘Vincent Chan is very responsive and commercial in his approach.’

‘A lawyers’ lawyer, Richard Grasby is very strong on the technical points of both trusts and the regulatory issues.

Key clients

Black Spade Acquisition Co

China Fortune Land Development Co., Ltd.

Silver Crest Acquisition Corporation

Artisan Acquisition Corp

China Everbright Water Limited

Burke Porter Group, Ltd.

Citibank N.A. (Hong Kong Branch)

Vision Deal HK Acquisition Corp.

Xinyi Solar Holdings Limited

BC Technology Group Limited

Work highlights

  • Advised Black Spade Acquisition Co on its proposed merger with VINFast by way of Cayman statutory merger.
  • Advised China Fortune Land Development Co., Ltd. on all offshore aspects of the restructuring including RSA and schemes of arrangement and novel issues which arose due to newly revised UK sanctions regime which impacted companies with bondholders who are “connected to Russia”.
  • Acted as Cayman counsel for Xinyi Solar Holdings Limited in relation to the proposed issue of the ordinary shares to be subscribed for and traded in RMB and the proposed listing of the RMB Ordinary Shares on the ChiNext Market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Appleby > Firm Profile

The firm: Appleby is a leading offshore law firm. The team of legal specialists advise global public and private companies, financial institutions and private individuals. Appleby is regularly recognised for its integrity and excellent client service, these are the values the firm prides itself on and are at the very core of its business.

Appleby’s global presence allows it to provide timely and comprehensive legal advice at the times that matter most to clients. Appleby is located in the key offshore jurisdictions of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Mauritius, and the Seychelles, as well as the international financial centres of Hong Kong and Shanghai. Appleby works with clients to achieve practical solutions whether in a single location or across multiple jurisdictions. Appleby is a full service law firm providing expert advice across corporate, dispute resolution, property, regulatory and private client and trusts practice areas.

Principal areas of work
Mergers and acquisitions: Appleby’s mergers and acquisitions team regularly works with FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies around the globe to help them deploy strategic growth and restructuring initiatives, whether involving single jurisdictions or complex multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary transactions. Appleby’s highly-experienced corporate team in Hong Kong is focused on providing on-the-ground advice on Cayman, Bermuda and BVI law matters in the Asia time zone.  Their M&A practice regularly works with Chinese corporations, venture capital firms, tech start-up businesses, closed-end investment firms and credit funds operating across the Asia Pacific region.

Banking and finance: Appleby’s banking and asset finance team are experienced in all aspects of law relating to banking, ship and aircraft registration and finance, asset backed finance and project and infrastructure finance. They provide advice to major banks and financial institutions, ship and aircraft owners, lessors, and lessees and have deep and trusted relationships with numerous international law firms, shipping groups and financial institutions around the world.

Funds: Appleby’s Hong Kong investment funds practice predominantly practices Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Bermuda law and covers the entire Asia Pacific region, and with its Cantonese, English and Mandarin skills, has a leading edge in advising Hong Kong, Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese fund managers. They advise on fund formation and ongoing operation for all types of offshore investment fund structures, co-investment arrangements, separate account mandates, asset-holding joint ventures and “club deals”, across the spectrum of alternative asset classes – private equity, hedge funds, credit (including mezzanine and distressed), venture capital, real estate and infrastructure. Appleby’s Fund Disputes Team is also an industry leader – one of the few offshore firms to field a specialist team dealing with fund disputes. Appleby’s fund finance team are experts in advising banks and finance providers in the development of sophisticated financing solutions. The team are globally recognized as leaders in the fund finance sector and have advised on a variety of different financing structures involving funds that have ranged from a hundred million to billions of dollars in subscribed investor commitments.

Insolvency and restructuring: Appleby’s insolvency and restructuring team advise directors, institutional lenders, creditors (secured or unsecured), borrowers, or insolvency practitioners in large insolvencies that have offshore or cross-border elements. The team has extensive insolvency and restructuring experience across a wide range of industries, including retail, hospitality and leisure, healthcare, financial services, real estate and manufacturing. The Hong Kong corporate restructuring practice predominantly practices Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Bermuda law and covers the entire Asia Pacific region, with a focus in the current market on restructuring of China real estate debt issuers.

Trust disputes: As family arrangements become more complex, trustees and beneficiaries are frequently being drawn into disputes which lead to court proceedings. Appleby’s talented, experienced and solution driven trust disputes team is committed to delivering the highest possible level of client service and regularly work together across their global locations to provide expert multi-jurisdictional advice.

PC&T: Appleby’s private client and trust team provide trust and foundation services to private individuals, families, and fiduciary companies. They advise on all aspects of trust law, including the establishment, administration, restructuring and termination of private, charitable, and commercial trusts and foundations. They act in a personal capacity as Protector, Enforcer and Director (of private trust companies) for a number of discretionary trusts and are frequently instructed by blue-chip trust institutions.

Dispute resolution: Appleby’s dispute resolution team is well-known for their Cayman, BVI, Bermuda and Jersey law advice across a wide range of shareholder disputes, insolvency and restructurings, funds disputes and M&A and privatisation disputes. The team works closely with their disputes lawyers in Cayman, Bermuda and the BVI, with every matter serviced by a multijurisdictional team.

Employment: Appleby’s specialist employment team provides advice on employment and immigration law to a range of global clients, including banks, financial services businesses, companies and directors, as well as their onshore legal advisers. With close ties to local governments, they are often consulted on, and help to share, new laws brought into force across the jurisdictions in which they operate.

Fraud and asset tracing: Appleby’s fraud and asset tracing team are experts in helping clients to trace and recover assets across international jurisdictions, regardless of where proceedings originate. Their clients include major financial institutions, multinational corporations, government agencies, state-owned corporations and high net worth individuals, who have been defrauded or have received the proceeds of fraud. They also advise directors and officers, and other service providers caught in the fallout of fraudulent activities.

Property: Appleby are a leading provider of property services in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Isle of Man and Jersey. Their property team provides expert legal advice on all aspects of commercial and residential property, including sales and purchases, leasing, development and property finance transactions. They are frequently recognised for their experience and excellent client service and are consistently ranked in the top tiers for property work. They regularly work directly with developers, investors, business occupiers, banking institutions and private individuals.

Regulatory: Appleby’s regulatory and compliance team is one of the world’s largest offshore, comprised of experts who not only have first-hand knowledge of local regulation, but who have in many cases, helped to shape it. Their team are skilled at putting technical regulatory information and decision-making in a commercial context, and clients know that they can assemble the team to deliver an international service, quickly and seamlessly.

Technology and innovation: Appleby’s multi-disciplinary technology and innovation group comprises experts from each of their ten offices to help businesses meet the new challenges and support clients across a broad range of emerging technologies including blockchain, virtual currencies, ICOs, data protection and financial technologies.

Main Contacts

Department Name Email Telephone
Corporate | M&A, Restructuring & Insolvency David Bulley (Managing Partner) dbulley@applebyglobal.com 2905 5770
Corporate | Banking & Finance Fiona Chan fchan@applebyglobal.com 2905 5760
Corporate Kitty Chan kchan@applebyglobal.com 2905 5722
Corporate Vincent Chan vchan@applebyglobal.com 2905 5759
Corporate Chris Cheng ccheng@applebyglobal.com 2905 5719
Private Client & Trusts Richard Grasby rgrasby@applebyglobal.com 2905 5780
Corporate | Investment Funds Eason Huang ehuang@applebyglobal.com 2905 5769
Corporate | Restructuring & Insolvency Lorinda Peasland lpeasland@applebyglobal.com 2905 5761
Corporate Judy Lee jlee@applebyglobal.com 2905 5737
Corporate | Investment Funds Marc Parrott mparrott@applebyglobal.com 2905 5710
Dispute Resolution Eliot Simpson esimpson@applebyglobal.com 2905 5765

Lawyer Profiles

Photo Name Position Profile
David Bulley photo Mr David Bulley David is the Managing Partner of the Hong Kong and Shanghai offices… View Profile
Vincent Chan photo Mr Vincent Chan Vincent Chan is a partner in the Corporate department of Appleby´s Hong… View Profile
Fiona Chan photo Ms Fiona Chan Fiona Chan is a partner in the corporate department of Appleby’s Hong… View Profile
Kitty Chan photo Ms Kitty Chan Kitty Chan is a Partner and Legal Manager (pending admission as “Registered… View Profile
Chris Cheng photo Mr Chris Cheng Chris Cheng is a partner in the Corporate department of Appleby’s Hong… View Profile
Richard Grasby photo Mr Richard Grasby Richard Grasby is a partner in Appleby’s Hong Kong office, leading the… View Profile
Eason Huang photo Mr Eason Huang Eason Huang is a partner and registered foreign lawyer (England & Wales)… View Profile
Judy Lee photo Ms Judy Lee Judy Lee is a partner in the Corporate department of Appleby’s Hong… View Profile
Marc Parrott photo Mr Marc Parrott Marc Parrott is a Partner in the Corporate Department of Appleby’s Hong… View Profile
Lorinda Peasland photo Ms Lorinda Peasland Lorinda is an international restructuring specialist with over 30 years’ onshore and… View Profile
Eliot Simpson photo Mr Eliot Simpson Eliot Simpson is a partner and Group Head of the Dispute Resolution… View Profile

Staff Figures

Partners : 11
Other fee earners : 13

Languages

Cantonese
English
Japanese
Mandarin
and other Chinese dialects

Memberships

Lex Mundi

Other

Main Contact : David Bulley
Other offices : Bermuda
Other offices : British Virgin Islands
Other offices : Cayman Islands
Other offices : Guernsey
Other offices : Hong Kong
Other offices : Isle of Man
Other offices : Jersey
Other offices : Mauritius
Other offices : Seychelles