Antitrust and competition Tier 2

Eversheds Sutherland has developed a strong reputation for litigation/regulatory domestic work since Adam Ferguson relocated from the UK to spearhead the practice in 2015. As well as representing private clients in relation to cartel and dominance investigations, the firm's 'deep well of experience in the telecoms sector', enables it to provide 'invaluable insight' on behalf of that industry's regulator, the Communications Authority, including recently successfully defeating a judicial review brought against it by Hong Kong Telecommunications. Although the team is less active on merger control matters, it has successfully forged a strong reputation advising airlines on the competition law implications associated with joint ventures and strategic co-operation arrangements.

Restructuring and insolvency Tier 3

Eversheds Sutherland's fluid Hong Kong finance offering includes numerous lawyers who combine front-end transactional expertise, with a deep knowledge of workout/unwinding strategies, in the event of distress. This approach is encapsulated by Kingsley Ong, whose broad structured finance and securitisation transactional expertise ensures that he is particularly well-suited to advising on the unwinding of often very complex financial instruments in distressed situations. Although the firm is fairly balanced in terms of its debtor and creditor-side client base, under the guidance of Ong, who is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese, it has a particularly strong track record advising IPs on the Hong Kong aspects of major global restructurings.

Structured finance and securitisation Tier 3

The structured finance, securitisation, and derivatives team at Eversheds Sutherland handle transactions across Asia. Under the leadership of Kingsley Ong, the team advises on large securitisations and many complex derivatives and structured products in China, South Korea, India, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Associate Polly Chiu is recommended.

Banking and finance Tier 4

Eversheds Sutherland handles domestic and international bilateral and syndicated lending trade finance, credit facilities, project finance, structured finance, acquisition finance, and bank regulatory issues and enforcement advice. Its client base includes sponsors, lenders, governments and investors. Head of practice Michael Yau counts international, local and PRC banks amongst his clients, and advises on financing and banking compliance matters.

Capital markets (equity) Tier 4

The Greater China capital markets team at Eversheds Sutherland handles fund raising financial transactions including IPOs, secondary fund raising, corporate restructuring, privatisations and reverse takeovers. Head of corporate Asia Stephen Mok has over 25 years’ corporate finance experience and speaks fluent English and Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin). Norman Hui was recently promoted to head of equity capital markets and is recommended for corporate finance, M&A and private equity transactions.

Dispute resolution: litigation Tier 4

Labour and employment Tier 4

Eversheds Sutherland's 'very strong' team head Jennifer Van Dale has a long-established reputation in the market as a result of her ability to provide 'very commercial' advice to employers across a range of primarily non-contentious matters, including advice on the employment aspects of multi-jurisdictional projects handled by the firm, training and HR compliance issues.

Corporate (including M&A) Tier 5

The Greater China Corporate Group at Eversheds Sutherland advises household name clients on the full corporate life-cycle. Leaning on its global platform, the firm is able to provide a cohesive cross-border service. Head of practice Charles Butcher is recommended for regional and international M&A and private equity projects. Stephen Mok, who jointly heads the team, counts Chinese SOEs, privately-owned enterprises and international investment banks amongst his clients. Roderick Lai was promoted to partner.

China > Fintech: foreign firms Tier 2

Eversheds Sutherland's Hong Kong-based practice focuses on strategic and bet-the-farm technology outsourcing and digital transformation projects, including high-profile transactions involving emerging technology and new fintech market entrants across Hong Kong and Asia. The practice advises financial services institutions on strategic technology and payments transactions, including infrastructure outsourcing (private and public cloud); open banking; core-banking and payments platforms; payment scheme arrangements; contact centre and telecoms services; enterprise software licensing; and data centre and application outsourcing arrangements. Joining in 2019 from PwC's associated Hong Kong legal, technology and digital practice (known as Tiang & Partners), Rhys McWhirter leads the TMT group in Hong Kong. Asia banking and finance head Michael Yau is also key to the practice.