Many occupations in Hong Kong have a specialist regulator. Amongst the well-known regulators are the SFC, the HKICPA, the Hong Kong Medical Council and The Law Society. There are many others who control the entitlements of individuals to enter or to continue in employment or practise.

The various law enforcement agencies (such as the Police Force, the Commercial Crimes Bureau (CCB), the Independent Commission Against Corruption and other specialist crime prevention units) have an increasingly prominent role in business in so-called “white collar crime” (such as money laundering) because business crime is a high priority in the sophisticated commercial environment of Hong Kong.

A criminal record now has greater implications for individuals than ever before because of the regulatory implications, internal codes of conduct and disciplinary standards, the need to disclose such matters on employment applications, credit applications and visa and emigration/immigration applications.

Tanner De Witt Solicitors has developed a team to coordinate the criminal, regulatory, immigration and employment issues flowing from criminal charges such as public order offences, minor crimes of violence, domestic violence and the like. We are well placed to ensure that the status of “fit and proper”, typical in most professional codes, is not lost or compromised as a result of criminal charges flowing from a person’s work life, private life or non-work lifestyle.

Further, and with the recent addition to Tanner De Witt’s team of Philip Swainston, a specialist criminal law practitioner of more than 15 years’ experience in Hong Kong, Tanner De Witt is now equipped to handle complex commercial crime, fraud allegations, cyber crime, international money laundering and tax evasion allegations. We are also able to provide specialist advice on the expanding obligations to report certain transactions to the regulators and the consequences both of making a report or failing to do so.

We support clients through police, immigration, customs and excise investigations and prosecutions and defending criminal charges including:

• public order offences
• crimes of violence
• domestic violence
• complex commercial crime
• fraud
• cyber crime
• international money laundering
• tax evasion and
• corruption (ICAC)

We also represent clients in extradition and regulatory proceedings.