Letter to Dr Chung Kim-wah of today’s date (17 August 2018)
Our senior partner Mr Peter Sit has been re-appointed to the Air Transport Licensing Authority (the “Authority”) for two years from 1 August 2018.
The Authority is an independent statutory body established under the Air Transport (Licensing of Air Services) Regulations, Cap. 448 sub. leg. A. It is responsible for considering applications from airlines of Hong Kong for licences to operate scheduled services to and from Hong Kong in accordance with the provisions of the said regulations.
We are acting for Sun Hung Kai Properties in the sale of residential units in Phase 1 of the St Martin Development (雲滙發展項目). “Phase 1 of the St Martin Development (雲滙發展項目)” provides a total of 804 residential units in which our firm is responsible for handling around 201 of them. The project is led by our partner Ms. Margaret Choi and assisted by Ms. Angela Wong (senior associate), Mr. William Chan (associate) and a team of experienced conveyancing clerks.
We are acting for Sun Hung Kai Properties in the sale of residential units in Phase 2 of the St Martin Development (雲滙發展項目). “Phase 2 of the St Martin Development (雲滙發展項目)” provides a total of 604 residential units in which our firm is responsible for handling around 151 of them. The project is led by our partner Ms. Margaret Choi and assisted by Ms. Angela Wong (senior associate), Mr. William Chan (associate) and a team of experienced conveyancing clerks.
We are acting for Sun Hung Kai Properties in the sale of residential units in “Victoria Harbour (海璇)” of Phase 1B of the Victoria Harbour Development (海璇發展項目). “Victoria Harbour (海璇)” provides a total of 355 residential units in which our firm is responsible for handling around 71 of them. The project is led by our partner Ms. Margaret Choi and assisted by Ms. Angela Wong (senior associate), Mr. William Chan (associate) and a team of experienced conveyancing clerks.
We are acting for a subsidiary of Emperor International Holdings Limited (Stock Code: 163) assisting with various pre-sale matters and the sale of the residential project now known as “Peak Castle (珀居)” under the Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance (Cap 621). The project is led by our partner Ms. Margaret Choi and assisted by Ms. Angela Wong (senior associate), Mr. William Chan (associate) and a team of experienced conveyancing clerks.
Our Senior Partner Peter Sit has been appointed as a member of the Governance Nomination and Development Committee of Hong Kong Red Cross for a term from 1 July 2018 to 31 August 2019.
Our Senior Partner Mr Peter Sit was admitted to the Law Society's Roll of Honour on 31 May 2018 in recognition of his distinguished contribution to the Law Society, the development of the legal profession and the practice of law in Hong Kong.
Senior Partner C. K. Kwong was invited to speak at a gathering of Chinese entrepreneurs organised by the Mind Blue Consultant Group at Hong Kong Park Lane Pullman Hotel on the 23rd May 2018. Mr. Kwong addressed the audience on Main Board and GEM listing requirements in Hong Kong as well as the latest development on (1) primary listing of innovative companies with Weighted Voting Rights (WVRs); (2) primary listing of pre-revenue biotech companies; and (3) secondary listing of innovative companies (with or without WVRs and including those from Greater China) on the Main Board.
The PowerPoint used by Mr. Kwong (in Chinese only) can be found at below.
The talk was followed by enthusiastic discussions with the participants.
Senior Partner C. K. Kwong was invited by the Hong Kong Government Department of Justice, in his capacity as Vice Chairman of the Special Committee on Evaluative Mediation (評估式調解特別委員會副主席) to deliver a talk on “Mediating IP Disputes in the Entertainment Industry” at Justice Place on 15th May 2018.
The Mediation and Entertainment Industry Seminar (如何以調解解決娛樂行業的相關糾紛研討會) was organized by the Department of Justice as special theme event for the Mediation Week.
The powerpoint used by Mr. Kwong (in Chinese only) can be found at below.
Our Consultant Sylvia Siu was also invited to moderate a session which immediately followed Mr. Kwong’s talk. Ms. Cally Kwong (Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress), Dr. Haywood Cheung (President, The Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society) and Mr. Eddie Chan (Executive Director, Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers’ Film Professionals Training Programme) took part as panelists.
It was a full house and well attended by stakeholders and experts in the industry.
Senior Partner C. K. Kwong chaired a high power panel discussion on “Recent Developments of Mediation in Hong Kong: Apology Ordinance, Evaluative Mediation and Third Party Funding” with Professor Robyn Carroll of the University of Western Australia, Ombudsman Connie Lau JP, former New Zealand High Court Judge Robert Fisher QC, Professor T. K. Iu and International Arbitrator, Kim Rooney at the Mediation Conference on 18th May 2018 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre organized by the Department of Justice.
These latest developments further enhanced Hong Kong’s infrastructure to fulfil its role as the center of dispute resolution in the Asian Region and in the context of the bigger scheme under the Belt & Road Initiative. The fundamental issues of level playing field, access to justice and promotion of settlement which are important for trade and commerce are addressed. Mr. Kwong’s session immediately followed the keynote speech by Secretary for Justice, Ms. Teresa Cheng. This event ended with the closing remarks made by the Honourable Justice Johnson Lam, V-P.
We recently obtained Judgment of the Hong Kong High Court in favour of our client concerning an agreement made relating to the listing of a Hong Kong listed company and performance of certain pre-listing and post-listing obligations. The end result is that we have successfully assisted our client in defending against loan claims totaling HK$35 million and counter-claiming against the former chairman cum controlling shareholder of the listed company for a sum of over HK$51 million with interest and costs after trial.
The subject proceedings have lasted for almost 5 years and involve numerous factual disputes on events dating back for up to 15 years. Our client succeeded on the claims in full notwithstanding that the subject agreement was made orally back in 2003 and many of the potential supporting documents were no longer retrievable. The opposite parties raised 12 points of challenge (as well as a number of other points which were eventually abandoned by the end of the trial) to attack our client’s case and evidence, but all of them were rejected by the trial judge.
The trial of the cases also involved some interesting issues, e.g. question on abuse of process concerning factual findings already made by a foreign Court on the same factual disputes between related parties, last-minute applications for permission to give evidence via video link, authenticity of documentary exhibits sought to be used by opposite parties and complaint of uttering forged documents in court proceedings.
This litigation is conducted by our Senior Associate Mr. Sidney Ho, assisting our Senior Partner Mr. Peter Sit and our Litigation Partner Mr. Roy Leung.
