Our Mr. Mathew Liu advocated in the Companies Court of the High Court of Hong Kong, and successfully applied for a Court Order pursuant to Section 42 of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) for removing falsified documents wrongfully registered on the Companies Registry.
In his published written Decision, The Honourable Mr. Justice Harris noted the unusual circumstances in which the application arose, as it would appear from evidence that the 1st defendant had caused the documents to be filed for reasons which had not been explained. The learned Judge accepted Mr. Liu’s submission that this was an appropriate case in which to order that the documents which should never have been filed are removed from the Companies Registry.
Besides applications involving the Companies Registry, our Litigation Department has abundant experience in a wide range of cases before the Companies Court, e.g. winding-up and bankruptcy petitions, liquidators’ applications and board room disputes. While working closely with Senior Counsel and Counsel, our litigators are always ready to stand on our own feet before the Court to make written and oral substantive submissions in appropriate cases.
This case is assisted by our Trainee Solicitor Ms. Shirley Yu.
Our firm has been appointed to act as the panel firm of solicitors for the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund Board (“Fund Board”) and applicants of Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund (“Fund”), in matters relating to the taking out of winding-up or bankruptcy proceedings against employers.
The Fund Board was established as a statutory body under the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Ordinance (Cap. 380 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (“Ordinance”), to administer the Fund and to perform its duties and functions under the Ordinance. The Fund serves as a safety net for employees in the event of closure of business of their insolvent employers by providing them with timely financial relief in the form of ex gratia payment. In the Policy Address 2022, the Chief Executive calls for improvement of labour rights by enhancing the procedures of the Fund, including providing legal services by the Fund to assist employees in filing winding-up or bankruptcy petitions against insolvent employers, so as to expedite the disbursement of ex-gratia payment to affected employees.
Our litigation department, led by our Partner Mr. Roy Leung for the present engagement, has abundant experience in both winding-up and bankruptcy proceedings and employment disputes. We are sincerely dedicated to contributing our professional legal knowledge to society in safeguarding employment rights together.
Our firm is glad to have participated in the pilot run of the integrated Court Case Management System (“iCMS”) system for use on Magistrates' Courts ("MCs") summons cases between July and August 2022. We have further been given to understand that, given the successful pilot run, the Judiciary plans to roll out the iCMS for real-life use on MCs summons cases by the end of 2022. Our firm will continue to actively engage in the use of new technologies in case management and provide feedback with the relevant public bodies. Our partner Mr. Sidney Ho, our associates Mr. Mathew Liu, Ms. Theresa Law and Ms. Winnie Hui in the litigation department participated in the said pilot run.
We are pleased to announce that Hainan International Arbitration Court (“HIAC”) officially announced on 17 September 2022 that the List of Additional Arbitrators to be Appointed by HIAC in 2022 has been deliberated and approved. Our partner Mr. Roy Leung has been appointed as an arbitrator by HIAC and has been listed in the Hainan International Arbitration Court (Hainan Arbitration Commission) Panel of Arbitrators.
HIAC is an international commercial arbitration institution established and revamped by Provincial People's government of Hainan to adapt the construction of Hainan free trade port with Chinese characteristics. More than 1,000 arbitrators have been empaneled by the HIAC after careful scrutiny and selection, nearly one third of which are overseas arbitrators, and they are located in 38 countries and regions around the world, covering all the main jurisdictions. It is our firm’s honour that Mr. Roy Leung has been appointed as one of the panel arbitrators.
Including Mr. Roy Leung, the Litigation Department of our firm has vast experiences in handling local and international arbitrations. In particular, our firm’s Consultant, Ms. Sylvia Siu, JP, is also a recognized arbitrator in various places in Mainland China. Complementing the opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative strategy, the National 14th Five-Year Plan and the development of the Greater Bay Area, our firm is ready to provide quality legal services on arbitration to our clients to protect their interests.
For the announcement, please refer to : https://en.hnac.org.cn/article/107/29.html
Our firm has filed an Originating Notice of Application with the Competition Tribunal to bring the first case on resale price maintenance in Hong Kong since the Competition Ordinance came into full effect on 14 December 2015.
For details, please see:
https://www.compcomm.hk/en/media/press/files/Resale_Price_Maintenance_PR_EN.pdf.
This case is led by our Partner, Mr. Tommy Tam, and assisted by our Associates, Ms. Jenny Wong and Miss Koey Wong and our trainee solicitor Miss Crystal Yip.
We are pleased to announce that our Senior Partner Peter Sit, Partner Joseph Wong and Associate Jenny Wong passed the second Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) Legal Professional Examination held on 11 June 2022. They will have to complete the training and pass the interview assessment before they will be allowed to obtain the relevant lawyer’s practice certificate and provide Mainland legal services in the nine Mainland municipalities in GBA on specified civil and commercial matters (including contentious and non-contentious matters) to which Mainland laws apply.
Our firm has acted for Mr. Lee Ka Chiu John in an application for relief from the Court under section 88 of the Electoral Procedure (Chief Executive Election) Regulation (Cap. 541J) in relation to the submission of three Consent of Support Forms for the 2022 Chief Executive Election.
After considering the written and oral submissions, The Honourable Madam Justice Au-Yeung is satisfied from the explanation that this is not a case where someone turned a blind eye to legal requirements, and that the whole course of conduct suggests that the non-compliance was purely out of inadvertence in the midst of heavy workload, tight timeframes, limited manpower and lack of communication with no bad faith involved. As such, Her Ladyship considers it just to grant the relief sought.
This case is led by our Senior Partner, Mr. Peter Sit, and assisted by our Associate, Mr. Alan So.
Our firm has been appointed by Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency Ltd. in the sale of residential units in Wetland Seasons Park, Phase B of the YOHO Hub Development, Phase 1 of Tai Po Town Lot No.244 Development and Phase 1A of NOVO LAND.
Wetland Seasons Park is a residential project bordering the Hong Kong Wetland Park in Tin Shui Wai, New Territories which provides a total of 1,717 residential units and 10 houses. Our firm is responsible for handling the conveyancing works of about 40% of the properties in the development.
Phase B of the YOHO Hub Development is located in Yuen Long, New Territories which provides a total of 1,030 residential units. Our firm is responsible for handling the conveyancing works of around 103 residential units.
Phase 1 of Tai Po Town Lot No.244 Development, also known as Silicon Hill, is located in Pak Shek Kok, New Territories which provides a total of 576 residential units. Our firm is responsible for handling the conveyancing works of 173 residential units.
Phase 1A of NOVO LAND is located in Tuen Mun, New Territories which provides a total of 824 residential units. Our firm is responsible for handling the conveyancing works of 165 residential units.
The above projects are led by our partner Ms. Margaret Choi and assisted by Ms. Ida Chan (associate) and a team of experienced conveyancing clerks.
Our Partner Roy Leung and our litigation associate Jenny Wong led our litigation team in representing China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited Tianjin Branch, CITIC Bank International (China) Limited, Beijing Branch and China CITIC Bank International Limited (collectively referred to as “CITIC”) in series of proceedings in the High Court and the Court of Appeal in relation to an overdue indebtedness arising from a syndicated loan in the sum of over HKD8 Billion against Pan Sutong and a company controlled by him, including resisting his injunction application and the corresponding appeal (Case Nos: HCMP222/2021 and CACV301/2021), his application for setting aside the statutory demand (HCSD3/2021), company winding-up petition (HCCW295/2021) and bankruptcy petition against him personally (HCB6548/2021). After rounds of hotly-contested legal battles, our firm succeeded in obtaining winning judgments for the proceedings abovementioned. On 8th July 2022, the Court granted a Winding-up Order against Silver Starlight Limited and a Bankruptcy Order against Pan Sutong.
This series of proceedings involved various issues of law and fact, including (1) jurisdiction of the Hong Kong Court in winding up an overseas company; (2) whether there was bona fide dispute in relation to the said debt; (3) whether or not CITIC unreasonably obstructed Silver Starlight Limited and Pan Sutong in selling the lands, etc. The case papers involved over 4300 pages.
The series of proceedings moved at a cracking pace. Silver Starlight Limited and Pan Sutong attempted to oppose vigorously, launching severe resistance in every single step in the proceedings. Our team and counsel team worked closely and seamlessly day and night and managed to present the opposing evidence to the point with good analysis. Three Honourable Judges sitting in the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal (in CACV301/2021) rejected the alleged existence of the overall oral agreement by Silver Starlight Limited and Pan Sutong, summarized as follows : -
HCMP 222/2021
Deputy High Court Judge Mr. MK Liu ruled in favour of our arguments in his judgment that Hong Kong Courts had jurisdiction to wind up Silver Starlight Limited, rejected the existence of the alleged overall oral agreement and confirmed that CITIC had not unreasonably obstructed the sale of the lands concerned. The Court dismissed the injunction application with costs to CITIC and even allowed the certificate for three counsel.
CACV301/2021
The Court of Appeal confirmed and agreed the judgment below in HCMP222/2021 and dismissed the appeal with costs to CITIC and certificate for three counsel.
HCSD3/2021
Deputy High Court Judge Le Pichon dismissed the application by Pan Sutong for setting aside the statutory demand. The issues in dispute involved res judicata, issue estoppel and the “new” evidence after the HCMP 222/2021 judgment. Her Ladyship granted leave to issue bankruptcy petition against Pan Sutong, with costs to CITIC and certificate for three counsel.
HCCW295/2021 & HCB6548/2021
The Honourable Madam Justice Linda Chan held that Silver Starlight Limited and Pan Sutong are bound by the determination and findings made by the Courts in the judgments of HCMP222/2021, CACV301/2021 and HCSD3/2021. Both of them should not attempt to re-litigate the same issues which have already been decided by the Courts against them. Since Silver Starlight Limited failed to fulfill the statutory demand, which should be deemed as inability to pay its debt, the Court granted a Winding-up Order against it. As for Pan Sutong, he failed to comply with the statutory demand and the debt remains unpaid, together with the fact that it was ruled that there was no bona fide dispute in relation to the debt by the Bank of China (Shenzhen) to Pan Sutong which he was unable to pay, he is deemed unable to pay his debts. The Court granted a Bankruptcy Order against him.
This series of proceedings was led by our litigation partner Roy Leung and our litigation associate Jenny Wong, with the assistance of our litigation associates Alan So and Winnie Hui.
Our partner Mr. Roy Leung becomes the first batch of Hong Kong lawyers qualified to practise in the Greater Bay Area (“GBA”). After passing the written qualifying examination in September 2021, Mr Leung proceeded to attend the training courses organised by the School of Lawyer of the South China Normal University in all weekends for almost 4 months, and passed the various assessments by Guangdong Lawyers Association in June 2022. Following this accreditation, Mr. Leung is qualified to obtain a practising certificate and will be able to provide legal services on specified civil and commercial matters concerning PRC laws as a qualified PRC lawyer.
SFKS’s China Practice Group has a long history of providing legal supports to clients on a wide spectrum of civil and commercial matters in Mainland China. Mr. Leung’s GBA qualification will further enhance our capability in providing quality services to clients in an efficient manner. We are committed to strengthening our communication with the legal professionals in Mainland China, and contributing to the modernisation and development of the legal profession in GBA.
We worked closely with and provided support to Queen’s Counsel and lawyers in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in successfully setting aside an ex parte Examination Order made by the Court of BVI after a full-day video hearing.
This case involves multiple levels of legal debate, including whether a Hong Kong resident who has no BVI presence can be treated as having submitted to BVI jurisdiction merely by having appointed legal representatives and litigating in BVI; whether sections 284 and 285 of the BVI Insolvency Act governing private examination by liquidators should be construed to carry extra-territorial effect; and whether liquidators in BVI should be allowed to examine individuals on the affairs of a foreign liquidated company in which the company wound up in BVI only has indirect minority interests, etc.. We also facilitated Counsel to put forward serious factual submissions to establish complaints of oppression and material non-disclosure on the part of the liquidators, to the extent that the Court of BVI took the view that the ex parte Examination Order should not have been sought by the liquidators in the first place and was satisfied that the ex parte Examination Order must be set aside.
This case is led by our Litigation Partner Mr. Roy Leung, assisted by Litigation Partner Mr. Sidney Ho and Litigation Associate Mr. Mathew Liu. While we practise Hong Kong law solely, we have prolific experience in the areas of cross-jurisdiction insolvency disputes and liquidation process, and collaborate to streamline and align views and contributions from learned advocates across jurisdictions in serving clients’ needs and interests round the clock.
We are pleased to announce that Ms. Cheryl Yuen of our firm was admitted as a solicitor of the High Court on 23rd April 2022, and she has celebrated the special occasion with our colleagues. She will join us as an Associate in the Conveyancing and Probate Department.
