Under the effective leadership of ‘solutions-oriented’ managing partner Paul Sephton, the ‘commercial, user-friendly and hardworking’ group of lawyers based in Harneys‘ Hong Kong office ‘continues to be at the head of the pack, in terms of service and breadth and the services offered’. Maggie Kwok heads the overarching transactional offering and continues to pick up considerable deal flow from Chinese fund managers which are appreciative of her strong language skills, knowledge of Mainland cultural and business intricacies and legal proficiency. On the regulatory front, BVI counsel Mirza Manraj provides ‘very user-friendly commercial advice’ across a range of issues, including in the context of the fintech space and regularly works alongside the funds team to provide regulatory advice pursuant to fund establishment and on ongoing operational issues. The ‘responsive and commercial’Raymond Ng takes the lead on the most significant corporate work handled by the team, regularly handling strategic and private equity-led M&A. Unsurprisingly, in light of the recent economic headwinds, the firm’s restructuring and litigation practices have been particularly active over the past 12 months, including handling company/IP side work and creditor mandates across a range of sectors, including real estate. Dedicated restructuring head Chai Ridgers excels in big-ticket cross-border mandates, including his recent high-profile engagement for the ad hoc group of bondholders’ in relation to the $22.7bn restructuring of China Evergrande’s offshore liabilities. The ‘responsive and dedicated’ Ian Mann was also involved in the aforementioned matter, a reflection of his strong overarching litigation skills which as well as contentious insolvency matters also regularly see him involved in shareholder and private client disputes. The ‘knowledgeable, responsive and approachable’ Julie Engwirda is noted for her insolvency and fund disputes prowess, while the ‘exceptional’ Paula Kay is praised for her ‘strategic nous’ across a range of commercial litigation, including on dissenting shareholder disputes.

With a ‘deep bench of technically skilled lawyers’ at its disposal, many of which are ‘well-versed with the business dynamics and culture of PRC clients’, Walkers’ well-established Hong Kong team has the depth and breadth of resources to handle a tremendous volume and range of transactional and disputes work. The ‘extremely commercial, knowledgeable and responsive‘ Andy Randall leads from the front, combining his managing partner duties with a compelling corporate and finance practice that includes capital markets and asset finance expertise. The ‘pragmatic and user-friendly’ Kristen Kwok is also highly skilled at handling finance matters, including as it relates to structured finance and securitisation matters – where she is widely recognised as the go-to Cayman counsel for setting up offshore repackaging programmes for Chinese banks and securities firms. Investment funds work is also a core strength of the office across asset classes and geographies, with James Gaden, Denise Wong and Thomas Granger well-versed in hedge and private equity fund formation matters and pursuant transactional work. The team has maintained a strong deal flow in the space in spite of a retrenchment of US investors away from Chinese funds, picking up a slew of mandates including in relation to Japanese focused funds as investors re-allocate their capital flows. The ‘pragmatic and client friendly’ Tom Pugh is ‘knowledgeable in offshore insolvency work’, and brings well-rounded perspective both in relation to offshore and onshore matters for a range of creditor and debtor-side stakeholders across a range of cross-border insolvency and restructuring matters. Under the guidance of the ‘extremely knowledgeable and very responsive’ Colm Dawson, the firm also maintains a market-leading regulatory offering which spans the banking and investment management sectors, in particular.

‘Renowned for its familiarity with the financial and judicial environment in Hong Kong’, the ‘knowledgeable and responsive’ team at Conyers is consequently able to provide ‘practical solutions for clients to deal with matters involving the relevant offshore jurisdictions efficiently’. Under the astute leadership of the ‘very experienced’ Christopher Bickley the firm has gained most acclaim for its corporate and issuer side capital markets work, which was again underscored by Bickley’s recent representation of Chinese spirit maker’s JLD Group’s high-profile HK$5.3bn HKSE IPO. Richard Hall is also well regarded for corporate finance matters, as is Lilian Woo, who excels at handling global equity offerings. Mark Yeadon spearheads the office’s three-partner litigation offering that is particularly adept at handling cross-border family and shareholder disputes and restructuring. Within that group, Norman Hau is ‘very experienced in dealing with commercial and corporate disputes with PRC clients’, while Anna Lin has experience in working on complex and high-value share appraisal proceedings, directors liability disputes and professional negligence claims in various offshore jurisdictions. Consultant David Lamb also handles contentious corporate work as well as public company M&A.

Drawing upon the expertise of lawyers across ‘a diverse background and with solid sector experience’, Mourant Ozannes provides ‘technically excellent, practical and commercially minded’ full service Cayman and BVI advice to clients throughout Asia Pacific. Funds-related work accounts for a sizeable proportion of the firm’s instructions and led by ‘outstanding’ managing partner Paul Christopher, the team excels at advising on fund formation, as well as subsequent downstream investments, including for a number of high-calibre private equity sponsors. Fund finance is also a core strength, with the  ‘incredibly responsive and technically excellent’ Danielle Roman regularly instructed by lenders providing a range of facilities to funds, including subscription facilities, NAVs and hybrids. In her role as local banking and finance head, Roman also regularly handles asset finance mandates, including as it relates to the Cayman Islands advice pursuant to the establishment of aviation leasing platforms. Simon Lawrenson is ‘responsive, helpful and commercial’, traits which he effectively deploys across a range of transactional work, including acquisition finance and DCM work, as well as in his role as head of the firm’s global banking offering. The firm is also adept at handling insolvency/restructuring matters, with the team’s offering in the space running the gamut from consensual restructurings and distressed transactional work, through to contentious insolvency matters. This work is overseen by Justine Lau who heads up a litigation team that also includes Michael Popkin, who is noted for his ability to ‘distil complex legal issues in simple terms and then to provide practical advice on the next steps’. Other recommended practitioners include Claire Fulton, who excels at handling special situations financings; Paul Trewartha, who has a focus on structured finance and capital markets work; and the ‘very hands on and responsive’ James Broad, whose funds experience also includes a growing volume of work in the virtual assets ecosystem.