The rapid growth of the mainland's economy in recent years has attracted a growing number of foreign and Hong Kong companies, and thus created a need for high-calibre legal service.
As a rendezvous for international lawyers, Hong Kong has the competitive edge to provide that sort of legal services to the mainland investors.
A joint survey conducted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) and the Law Society (LS) of Hong Kong shows overseas capital injection on the mainland is either through direct investment or mergers & acquisitions (M&As) that involves very complicated legal procedures.
TDC sent questionnaires, through LS, to more than 600 legal firms in Hong Kong, getting about 80 replies, TDC chief economist Edward Leung said.
About 40 per cent of the international lawyers and 10 per cent of the M&A experts in Asia are based in Hong Kong. Besides, Hong Kong law firms have established a strong international-mainland network and clientele base - 83 of which have dealt with cross-boundary commercial activities, 70 per cent have served mainland clients, and almost 80 per cent have served foreign clients in other overseas economies.
"Hong Kong-based lawyers provide legal services both to Hong Kong and foreign firms who wish to invest in or acquire mainland enterprises," Leung told a press conference yesterday. Alternatively, mainland companies hoping to go global or seek foreign partners, too, require legal services."
Chairman of LS's mainland legal affairs committee Raymond Ho said Hong Kong had become a hub of legal professionals after opening up the legal services sector to foreign lawyers in 1994.
"The booming China market provides good business opportunities for Hong Kong lawyers, given its role as an established financial and legal services centre. But there are challenges too because cross-border legal services involve complicated matters, approval by the mainland authorities and the complex nature of the mainland laws."
LS Vice-chairman Edward Cheung said M&As usually involved the mainland and Hong Kong laws together.
For example, if an H share company registered on the mainland seeks a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, it has to necessarily fulfill the SAR laws and regulations, too.
(HK Edition 07/28/2005 page2)
