Mr Richard Grasby > Appleby > Hong Kong, Hong Kong > Lawyer Profile
Appleby Offices
Suites 4201-03 & 12, 42/F, One Island East
Taikoo Place, 18 Westlands Road
Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
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Mr Richard Grasby
Work Department
Private Client & Trusts
Position
Richard Grasby is a partner in Appleby’s Hong Kong office, leading the Private Client, Trusts and Family Office practice.
Richard advises trustees, ultra-high net worth individuals, private trust companies and family offices on the establishment, restructuring and administration of trusts, including special trusts i.e. BVI VISTA, Cayman STAR and Employee Benefit Trusts. He regularly assists in estate administration, succession planning and family governance. Private clients and family offices instruct Richard to advise on the use of corporate vehicles for asset holding and succession planning purposes. Richard is an expert in regulatory law including AML, AEOI, economic substance sanctions and licensing and risk management for trust companies. He also advises on collective investment funds, particularly unit trusts and private label funds.
Career
Richard has acted for many of the world’s leading trust companies, financial institutions, wealthy individuals and related structures. He has experience with dealing with clients and advisors across the globe.
Richard has over 20 years’ post qualification experience with the majority spent in offshore firms. Richard has lived and worked in Jersey, London, the Cayman Islands and (since 2009) Hong Kong. He is admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales and the British Virgin Islands and is a Registered Foreign Lawyer in Hong Kong. He has also been admitted as an Attorney in the Cayman Islands.
Recently, he has been recognised in the 2023 edition of the Private Client Global Elite Directory.
Languages
English (Native)
Memberships
Richard is an active member of STEP. He has been on the local executive committee since 2012 and is a former chair. He is on the global steering committees for the International Client Special Interest Group. He is a member of the Academic Community and Governance Committee.
He is a member of the Hong Kong Trustee Association, the Family Firm Institute the International Bar Association and the Investment Migration Council.
Education
Richard is an elected Academician of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law (the only such offshore practitioner in APAC). He is also a Certified Anti Money Laundering Specialist.
- Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, College of Law, York, 1997
- LL.B. (Hons) Law and French, University of Bristol, 1995
- DIPLOMA UNIVERSITÉ DE POITIERS, 1994
Lawyer Rankings
Hong Kong > Offshore law firms
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’.