HKSTP Panel of legal firms & IP practitioners

FitzGerald Lawyers has been selected to join the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park Panel of legal firms & intellectual property practitioners.

FitzGerald Lawyers shortlisted for Asialaw Asia Pacific Dispute Resolution Awards

Asia’s leading dispute resolution lawyers will convene 28 September 2017 at the 3rd annual Asialaw Asia Pacific Dispute Resolution Awards. Representatives from some of the top firms throughout Asia-Pacific from as far away as Australia and India and all the way through Southeast Asia will be in attendance as we celebrate the very best firms throughout Asia Pacific.

Launching a startup? Here are some key legal issues

Here are some key legal issues to be across when you start up your business in Hong Kong and Australia!

Are you a victim of CEO fraud? Here's an immediate action plan to recover funds wired to Hong Kong or Mainland China

Many victims of CEO fraud (also known as business email compromise) are companies involved in cross-border businesses that routinely make international money transfers.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports that:

• most of the victims are based in the US, but companies from over 100 other countries have been defrauded;
• although fraudulent transfers have been sent to over 79 different countries, most of the money is sent to banks in Mainland China and Hong Kong; and
• the first 24 hours after the fraudulent transfer are critical.

From January 2015 to June 2016, the FBI reported a 1,300 percent increase in exposed dollar losses (which refers to actual and attempted loss) due to CEO fraud at approximately USD 3.1 billion. The extent of this problem could be much higher as many of these crimes may go unreported due to embarrassment or despair at the seeming lack of practical solutions.

The following action plans outline steps to freeze accounts and recover funds.

Indemnity costs for unsuccessful challenge to arbitration agreement

The Hong Kong High Court has clarified in a decision by Madam Justice Mimmie Chan in Chimbusco International Petroleum (Singapore) Limited v Fully Best Trading Limited [2015] HKCFI 2196 that absent special circumstances, costs to be borne in an unsuccessful challenge to an arbitration agreement should be ordered on an indemnity basis.