Norton Rose Fulbright > Hong Kong, Hong Kong > Firm Profile

Norton Rose Fulbright > The Legal 500 Rankings

Hong Kong > Antitrust and competition Tier 1

Marc Waha leads an impressively large antitrust and competition team at Norton Rose Fulbright, which is renowned for its ability to handle the antitrust elements of global M&A transactions, cartel matters, abuse of dominance cases, merger filings and other advisory work. Drawing on its global reach, the practice represents a notable list of Asian clients and multinationals, and has notable expertise in the airline and maritime transport, energy and renewables, and finance sectors. Waha is accomplished within the region’s regulatory arena, having accumulated experience before the Hong Kong Competition Commission (HKCC) in a number of cross-border investigations and litigation; he is also well-recognised for handling competition compliance matters in Japan and Europe as well as East Asia. Associates Nicolas Cassauba and Joe Lee frequently assist with the firm’s work.

Hong Kong > Banking and finance Tier 2

Norton Rose Fulbright advises an increasingly balanced roster of lenders and borrowers across an eclectic range of financing work within the real estate, transport and general corporate sector. Victor Sim is one of the principal contacts for acquisition finance work and has strong ties with both traditional banks as well as private credit funds. The vastly experienced Peter Haslam  is also a key member of the team as a result of his versatile offering that includes general corporate lending, ECA financing and project financing. Both Sim and Haslam have also been very active in relation to ESG-related financings.

Hong Kong > Capital markets (equity) Tier 2

With a strong and established presence in Hong Kong and a growing offering out of Shanghai, Norton Rose Fulbright has successfully nurtured strong relationships with regional and international banks, ensuring that the firm picks up a significant pipeline of work, particularly in the context of mid-market Hong Kong IPOs. UK and Hong Kong-qualified team head Psyche Tai has vast experience in the market and is adept at advising on issues throughout the ECM life cycle, ranging from pre-IPO investments, IPOs and spin-offs, as well as post-listing compliance, and delisting work. Benefitting from superb technical and legal skills, as well as fluency in Mandarin and Cantonese, Terence Lau is a popular choice among regional banks across a variety of ECM matters spanning IPOs, convertible bonds, top-up placings and note subscriptions. Counsel Aldo Chan has a strong transactional practice, and provides compliance and regulatory advice to listed companies.

Hong Kong > TMT Tier 2

Regularly advising on delicate and complex TMT-related matters, Norton Rose Fulbright‘s sector specialisms cover financial services, fintech, retail, technology, transportation, and hotels and leisure. Financial institutions particularly benefit from the Hong Kong group’s ability to advise on the technology and regulatory aspects of transactions and projects. The Asia-Pacific data protection, privacy and cybersecurity practice is led by Anna Gamvros, whose practice ranges from technology agreements and outsourcing transactions, to privacy, data protection, cybersecurity and breach response, and telecoms and internet regulatory issues. Additional partner-level support is provided by Justin Davidson, who advises multinational and Asian technology firms on IP and technology law issues across Asia; and fintech and financial services regulatory expert, Etelka Bogardi. At senior associate level, Ruby Kwok focuses on TMT-related regulatory issues.

Hong Kong > Asset finance (including aviation and shipping finance) Tier 3

Norton Rose Fulbright has re-energised its shipping finance practice following the arrival at the end of 2020 of Becky Tai from Clifford Chance. Tai is well-versed across a range of financial products, including ECA-supported loan facilities, JOLCOs and sale and leaseback transactions, enabling her to provide a strong service to banks, owners and lessors.

Hong Kong > Construction Tier 3

Under the leadership of Alfred Wu, Norton Rose Fulbright continues to advise statutory bodies, government departments, employers, professional consultants, contractors and subcontractors on both contentious and non-contentious construction mandates. Wu is a name to note for disputes, including litigation and arbitration, and has considerable experience across the Asia-Pacific region.

Hong Kong > Corporate (including M&A) Tier 3

With experience handling both private and public M&A, Norton Rose Fulbright is well-placed to advise clients across a range of sectors on corporate transactions including take-privates, mergers and joint ventures. Practice head Psyche Tai is particularly active on deals involving public markets, drawing on her extensive knowledge of the HK takeover code, while James Parker is noted for his work on cross-border transactions. The team continues to expand, promoting Rachel Chan to partner in January 2022 and bringing on Peggy Wang in June 2021 from White & Case.

Hong Kong > Dispute resolution: international arbitration Tier 3

The ‘very experienced and well-resourced’ Hong Kong-based four-partner litigation team at Norton Rose Fulbright has excellent credentials representing domestic and multinational corporations on complex cross-border disputes heard before the core regional arbitral centres, including HKIAC, SIAC and CIETAC. Much of the work relates to construction disputes arising from large scale infrastructure and energy projects, an area that ‘hugely experienced and talented litigator’ Alfred Wu  (who is an engineer by background) is particularly well regarded.  Wu also regularly appears as an arbitrator, as dothe ‘brilliant’ Kevin Hong and Camille Jojo , whose practice also includes more general commercial litigation.      

Hong Kong > Dispute resolution: litigation Tier 3

Norton Rose Fulbright combines ‘excellent knowledge of the law with first-in-class client handling’ and is a popular choice among directors, corporates and financial institutions across a range of commercial disputes and contentious private client matters. ‘Knowledgeable, efficient and easy to work with’, team head Camille Jojo is regarded as ‘a top litigation practitioner‘ and has a versatile practice that includes shareholder litigation, as well as contentious trust and probate cases. Construction litigation is also a strength, an area that Alfred Wu  and the ‘brilliant’ Kevin Hong are recommended. Daniel Ng was promoted to partner in January 2022, a testament to his popularity among clients across a range of commercial litigation.

Hong Kong > Insurance Tier 3

Norton Rose Fulbright is particularly known for its well-established presence in the warranty and indemnity insurance space, which makes it a popular choice for major insurance and reinsurance companies, banks and other financial institutions seeking assistance with corporate transactions such as M&A. As part of its offering, the team advises on licensing issues, regulatory matters and joint ventures. James Parker, who has extensive experience in advising on restructurings, equity investments and disposals, leads the practice alongside financial services regulation expert Etelka Bogardi. Another key name in the team is senior associate Graeme Mackay, who is well versed in corporate matters and W&I policy issues.

Hong Kong > Intellectual property Tier 3

Norton Rose Fulbright‘s Greater China team is consistently sought out by major Asia-Pacific and global companies to advise on IP rights. Its specialisms cover the registration of patents, trade marks and designs, along with IP-related licensing, use and enforcement work. It also litigates IP classes before Hong Kong and China’s courts and tribunals. Team leader and IP law expert Justin Davidson regularly advises on the protection and exploitation of IP portfolios, and is increasingly active in relation to patent litigation. At associate level, Stanley Ng’s practice covers patents, design rights, copyright, confidential information, trade marks and domain names.

Hong Kong > Regulatory Tier 4

Hong Kong > Shipping

China > Dispute resolution: Litigation: foreign firms Tier 2

With extensive experience in commercial disputes, Norton Rose Fulbright‘s team is adept in cross-border estate, contractual, construction and financial litigation. Apart from having a commercial litigation focus, the firm also acts in IP disputes, particularly in relation to the technology and life sciences sectors. Camille Jojo leads the Hong Kong-based team, drawing on over 40 years of experience handling disputes in connection with banking, shareholder, restructuring, and trust and probate matters. Extending the practice’s expertise in terms of construction issues is Alfred Wu, as he regularly handles cases surrounding infrastructure and building projects in Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China and the Asia Pacific region on behalf of contractors, subcontractors, government departments and statutory bodies. In terms of internal developments, Kevin Hong was promoted to the partnership in January 2021, while Daniel Ng was promoted in January 2022; they are noted for construction and banking and finance-related disputes, respectively.

Asia Pacific: Regional International Arbitration > Leading firms Tier 3

Norton Rose Fulbright‘s international arbitration offering in the Asia-Pacific region stems from Singapore, Hong Hong and Australia. In Singapore, Katie Chung  and Andrew Battisson  share leadership of a practice with expertise in areas including energy and investor-state arbitration. The team in Hong Kong includes Alfred Wu , whose engineering background equips him well for construction disputes, and Dylan McKimmie  in Brisbane and Tamlyn Mills in Sydney are two key Australian names.

China > TMT: foreign firms Tier 3

Delivering ‘amazing and timely advice‘, Norton Rose Fulbright‘s Greater China practice stands out for its ability to advise financial institutions on both the technology and regulatory aspects of transactions and projects. It is also sought out for its credentials in cyber breach response and compliance work. Providing ‘commercially-sound solutions‘, Hong Kong-based data and TMT lawyer specialist Anna Gamvros heads the firm’s Asia-Pacific data protection, privacy and cybersecurity practice; Justin Davidson is an experienced IP and technology practitioner; and North Asia fintech leader Etelka Bogardi also leads the firm’s global payments practice.

China > Intellectual property: foreign firms Tier 4

Norton Rose Fulbright‘s Hong Kong-based Greater China IP team advises on the acquisition, exploitation, use and enforcement of IP rights. It also regularly litigates all IP classes in courts and tribunals across Hong Kong and mainland China. Justin Davidson assists with both contentious and non-contentious IP issues across Asia.

Australia > IT and telecoms

Praised for clients for an international network and globally-minded expertise which is ‘unique in the market‘, Norton Rose Fulbright works with a mix of high-profile domestic and international TMT players on multi-billion-dollar matters. Co-leading the team is Nick Abrahams, Martyn Taylor, Peter Mulligan, and Anna Gamvros – who joined the Brisbane team from the firm’s Hong Kong office in July 2021. Recent work for the group includes infrastructure upgrades and rollouts, as well as large-scale technology procurement. Other key names to note include the ‘technically excellent’  Ka-Chi Cheung, who regularly works on outsourcing and procurement projects. All lawyers are located in Sydney unless otherwise mentioned.