Our Senior Partner, Mr Peter Sit, was conferred University Fellowship 2023/2024 by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University on 26 April 2024 to honour his longstanding commitment to PolyU.
The citation read out at the Conferment Ceremony states:
“Mr Peter Sit Kien-ping, Senior Partner of the highly-regarded law firm Sit, Fung, Kwong & Shum, has been serving the legal sector for over 40 years. Abided by the motto ‘quantum potes, tantum aude’, or ‘do as much as you are able’ in English, Mr Sit has spared no effort in any endeavour, both as a solicitor and as an advocate for progressive reforms in legal practice.
In 2018, Mr Sit was inducted into the Roll of Honour of the Law Society of Hong Kong in recognition of his distinguished contribution to the legal sector, the development of the legal profession, and the practice of law in Hong Kong. This prestigious list celebrates the outstanding achievement of solicitors. Only 40-odd practitioners have made it to the list since the Society was founded in 1907. Serving on the Council of the Law Society from 1995 to 2000, Mr Sit contributed his valuable time and expertise to the Society by joining numerous committees over the years including chairing the Hong Kong Lawyer Editorial Board, and the Standing Committee on Compliance. Highly optimistic about the future of the Greater Bay Area (GBA), Mr Sit is among the second cohort of Hong Kong lawyers qualified to practice in GBA.
Once an examiner and a part-time lecturer, Mr Sit is enthusiastic about educating the next generations of professionals. His dedication to this cause is evident in his longstanding commitment to PolyU. Having served as a Council Member from 2015 to 2021, and as a Court Member from 2021, he actively contributes to steering the University towards continuous advancement. Throughout his tenure, Mr Sit has provided invaluable legal advice to the University, he also played a crucial role in various committees including the Governance Committee, Campus Development Committee, Task Force on Governance Report of UGC, and several search committees for senior management of the University.
Mr Sit believes in an “industry approach” to legal practice in a bid to improve efficiency and uncork the bottlenecks in the judiciary system, as well as to recruit more practitioners and attract more students to pursue an education and a career in law-related sectors. He also believes the education sector may benefit from an industry-university-research approach where the contents of curricula and knowledge align with evolving social needs and contexts.”
Our Senior Partner Mr. Peter Sit, our Partners Mr. Joseph Wong and Ms. Jenny Wong have been presented with the practice licenses as lawyer in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (“GBA”), and will formally practise in their capacity as a GBA lawyer for civil and commercial matters relating to the PRC laws.
SFKS’s China Practice Group has a long history of providing legal supports to clients on a wide spectrum of civil and commercial matters. The GBA qualification of 4 lawyers in total 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.
Recently, 6 lawyers of our firm were honoured to visit Jiangmen, Guangdong.
On 21 March 2024, our lawyers attended The Rule of Law Convention, where officials of Jiangmen city and its Department of Justice, Jiangmen Lawyers Association, representatives of law firms, corporates, commercial associations and representatives of associations shared directions and experience in enhancing business environment through the rule of law.
On 22 March 2024, our lawyers visited Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration Jiangmen (Jiangmen Arbitration Commission). Together with representatives of arbitration, law firms, investment banks and overseas Chinese business communities, we exchanged prospective views on the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (“GBA”) through cross-sector cooperation.
On the same day, our lawyers visited 廣東法匠律師事務所 and 廣東弘新君睿律師事務所 and had valuable discussions with Mainland lawyers on the great business potential of GBA, strong and sustainable development of law firms and a variety of legal practices.
We express our sincere gratitude to the officials of Jiangmen Municipal Judicial Bureau and the Jiangmen Lawyers Association respectively, for their invitations, arrangements and hospitality.
Our lawyers attending Jiangmen include Senior Partner Mr. Peter Sit, Partners Mr. Joseph Wong, Mr. Roy Leung, Mr. Simon Siu, Ms. Jenny Wong, and Senior Associate Mr. Mathew Liu.
Our Partner Mr. Roy Leung and Senior Associate Ms. Theresa Law were invited to give a CPD seminar to the members of the Professional Insurance Brokers Association (“PIBA”) on 4 March 2024, on the theme of “Trust & Family Office” within the realm of wealth management and investment services.
During the seminar, Mr. Leung and Ms. Law, with the support of our Trainee Solicitor Mr. Andes Leung, introduced the elementary legal concept, history, development, functions, common issues, etc. of trust and family office, which have been hot topics in and beyond the insurance industry in recent years. The CPD seminar received positive response with attendance of almost 90 PIBA members.
At the seminar, the attending PIBA members also engaged in enlightening discussions with Mr. Leung and Ms. Law on the significance of trust and the evolving roles and regulations of family offices in Hong Kong. The valuable insights of Mr. Leung and Ms. Law enriched the knowledge base of the attendees and facilitated the commitment of the insurance industry to staying abreast of these pertinent topics.
The discussion on trust delved into its unique principles and its pivotal role in property holding and wealth management. Simultaneously, the exploration of family offices shed light on their unique role in succession planning, customized lifestyle management services, and the professional management of the wealth of high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) and their beloved family members amid the provision of incentives, including among others, a new tax concession regime, by the Hong Kong Government endeavoring for the development of family offices in Hong Kong.
Our firm provides a wide range of services to private clients including family wealth management. Our Trust Team provides legal services to clients on trust-related matters, including the establishment of private trusts for tax planning, assets protection, and estate and succession planning. This ranges from the trust structure before establishment to the management of the underlying assets and business after settlement. Our firm has acted for and advised leading insurance companies and family office. Besides trusts and estates, assistance on real property successions and solutions is joined by our Conveyancing Department. Our Dispute Resolution Department has substantial experience in contentious disputes over trusts, sharing valuable insights on risk factors. We are dedicated to establishing long-term relationships with both corporate and individual clients to provide indispensable support to their businesses and lives across different stages.
We are honoured to be invited to visit various organisations in Jiangmen of the Greater Bay Area!
On 29 December 2023, our Senior Partner Mr. Peter Sit, together with Partners Mr. Roy Leung, Mr. Simon Siu, and Ms. Jenny Wong, visited the Jiangmen Lawyers Association. They had in-depth discussions and exchanges with Mr. Peng Gaoyan, a member of the Party Group of the Jiangmen Municipal Bureau of Justice, Mr. Li Jingran, Deputy Secretary and President of the Jiangmen Lawyers Industry Party Committee, Mr. Liu Qinghua, Director of the Legal Affairs Department of the Jiangmen Municipal Bureau of Justice and Secretary General of the Jiangmen Lawyers Association, and other vice presidents and directors on matters relating to lawyers from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area practicing in Jiangmen.
During this trip, we had the honour to visit the Jiangmen Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export to learn more about the foreign-related legal service needs of enterprises in Jiangmen. With our own strengths, we are willing to work closely with the Jiangmen Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export through quality legal services to jointly promote the high-quality development of enterprises in Jiangmen.
We, together with Mr. Li Jingran, President of the Jiangmen Lawyers Association, visited the Guangdong Liangjiang Law Firm, and with Mr. Xu Bingquan, Vice President, visited the Guangdong Yuanhao (Jiangmen) Law Firm to learn more about the development history, scale, and business scope of the respective law firms. We hope to deepen our cooperation with Jiangmen lawyers in the future, and provide high-level cross-border legal services for Jiangmen enterprises and overseas compatriots, to create a new landscape for legal services in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the Jiangmen Municipal Bureau of Justice, Jiangmen Lawyers Association, and Jiangmen Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export for their warm hospitality and excellent arrangements!
News report of Jiangmen Lawyers Association can be found at:
Sit, Fung, Kwong & Shum (“SFKS”) and SFKS CK Kwong, Solicitors (“CKKS”) will cease to be associated with each other as from 1 January 2024. Accordingly, Mr Kwong Chi Keung of CKKS will also cease to be a consultant of SFKS as from 1 January 2024.
We recently hosted a Christmas Party to share festive joy and blessings.
Our Senior Partner Mr. Peter Sit presented a trophy to our Consultant Ms. Sylvia Siu JP to celebrate her triumph in 2023.
We openly thanked the following recipients of long service awards, for their loyal service:-
Mr. Law Shiu Chong, Managing Clerk of China-Appointed Attesting Officers (35 years)
Mr. Leung Wing Fai, Legal Executive (Conveyancing and Probate) (35 years)
Mr. Alex Chan, Consultant (30 years)
Ms. Leanne Ching, Secretary (20 years)
Ms. Monie Yau (Registration Department) (15 years)
We also congratulated the following three, for their promotion as our Senior Associates with effect from 1 January 2024:-
Ms. Ida Chan, Ms. Theresa Law, Mr. Mathew Liu
Unauthorized alteration of company registration information has become one of the prevalent modes of fraud. In several similar cases, we assisted corporate owner victims in the aftermath through civil proceedings as well as liaison with the Companies Registry (“CR”) and the Police.
Under section 62 of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622, the “Ordinance”), the Registrar of the Companies (the “Registrar”) in performance of its statutory functions on registration of documents is not responsible for verifying (a) the truth of the information contained in a document delivered to the Registrar; or (b) the authority under which a document is delivered to the Registrar.
It is most regrettable that fraudsters are taking advantage of the system by unilaterally submitting false information e.g. resignation of directors and appointment of new directors / company secretaries, to the CR for registration.
Impugned documents containing false information had been registered accordingly, and as a result, in the eyes of third parties e.g. banks and business counterparties relying on registered information, would inevitably be misled to question the identity, or even refuse to accept the authority, of the director(s) who have purportedly ‘resigned’ though against their own will. Actively operating businesses were thus effectively paralyzed. Worse still, outsiders who had absolutely no relationship with the relevant companies might feign authority of those companies for improper purposes.
Amidst determination in identifying the culprits through investigations, victims are equally concerned with restoring the companies by removing the false information from the CR as soon as possible.
We assisted victims in commencing and going through court proceedings through applications under section 42 of the Ordinance, seeking a declaration that the impugned documents containing the false information be null and void, an order that such impugned documents be removed (or rectified) from the Companies Register, as well as ancillary orders. These applications were supported by affidavits setting out the material facts, written skeleton submissions with detailed analysis as well as authorities laying down the relevant principles in this area of law.
We are glad that our efforts were judicially recognized, activities of the relevant companies were hence restored. Reasons for decisions were handed down by the Companies Court in two of such cases: Chan Ting Fo v Wong Tsz Hong and Others [2023] HKCFI 3211 handed down this month, citing Cheung Wai Man Elmo v Ko Hok Shing and Others [2022] HKCFI 3668.
Further, we facilitated victims in continuous liaisons with the relevant authorities, namely, the CR and the Police, for the purpose of procuring investigation as well as legally permissible disclosure.
With our experience in this area, we are always ready to serve those in need as similar types of fraud remain rampant. Our Associate Mr. Mathew Liu has been in charge of the cases mentioned above, assisted by Trainee Solicitor Ms. Shirley Yu, Ms. Nicole Corpuz and Ms. Hayley Fong respectively.
On 8 November 2023, it was our honour to be visited by Vice President Madam He Wenhui, Vice President Mr. Zuo Mianzhang, and Executive council member Madam Li Yanna and Mr. Rong Yongyi of the Jiangmen Lawyers Association. Our firm's Mr. Peter Sit, Mr. Roy Leung, Mr. Simon Siu, and Ms. Jenny Wong gladly attended the meeting and had in-depth discussions with lawyers from Jiangmen on the development, trends, potentials, and opportunities in legal business in both Jiangmen and Hong Kong.
Jiangmen is one of the nine cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Jiangmen, as a renowned hub for overseas Chinese, is home to numerous overseas Chinese and foreign-funded enterprises. The Jiangmen Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government place tremendous emphasis on the affairs relating to overseas Chinese, particularly in light of the rapid development of the GBA. This focus has brought a more extensive platform for both Hong Kong and mainland lawyers. SFKS will continue to engage in comprehensive exchange with the Jiangmen Lawyers Association and full-time lawyers across various legal domains in Jiangmen, ensuring the delivery of top-notch legal services to clients from both Hong Kong and the mainland, as well as contributing to the establishment of GBA in our motherland!
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the Jiangmen Lawyers Association for gifting a fire-painted fan, a local specialty of Jiangmen Xinhui, to commemorate this meeting!
To strengthen our firm’s expertise in legal practice concerning building management issues, and as a token of our firm’s support to community service, our Associate Mr. Mathew Liu has completed a 5-day training course on property management organized by the Law Society of Hong Kong in September and October 2023. The course prepares Mr. Liu for joining our Partners Mr. Roy Leung and Mr. Sidney Ho as solicitor volunteers in the Home Affairs Department’s free legal advice service on building management.
Completing the course is also an extension of our regular and routine services in acting for incorporated owners, management companies and individual owners in building management matters. Recently, our Partner Mr. Roy Leung and Associate Mr. Mathew Liu were invited to attend an Annual General Meeting of a sizable and luxurious development in the Southern district to provide on-site legal support. In addition, we have been acting for a client in an arbitration concerning building management disputes between an incorporated owners and an individual owner, led by our Partner Mr. Tommy Tam, assisted by Mr. Mathew Liu and Paralegal (pending admission) Ms. Crystal Yip. On another case led by Mr. Tommy Tam, assisted by Trainee Ms. Nicole Corpuz, we are representing an incorporated owners in the enforcement of a court judgment against individual owners with satisfactory outcome. Throughout the years, we have also successfully completed applications for the formation of 19 owners’ incorporations upon the dissolution of civil servants co-operative building societies (led by our Partner Mr. Tommy Tam and assisted by our Senior Associate Mr. Trevor Lee).
Building management is an evolving area of law. The Chief Executive Mr. John Lee recently announced in the Policy Address 2023 that the Government will introduce a bill later this year to amend the Building Management Ordinance (BMO), to strengthen the regulations in respect of maintenance projects, minutes of meetings, financial statements, etc.. Solicitors of our firm will stay tuned on the law reform, in order to render up-to-date assistance in facilitating stakeholders in adapting to the improved statutory regulations.
The Chief Executive Mr. John Lee released the Policy Address 2023 on 25 October 2023, where various Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) proposed in the Policy Address 2022 were reviewed. We gladly contributed to fulfilling a KPI in the Policy Address.
One of the KPIs proposed by the Chief Executive in the Policy Address 2023 requires to safeguard labour rights by releasing ex-gratia payment from the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund (PWIF) within three months for simple and straight-forward applications and not more than six months for 90% of non-disputed and substantiated applications upon receipt of applications by the PWIF Application Office, with effect from the fourth quarter of 2022 (the “KPI”).
Under the statutory regime, ex-gratia payments are released to the affected employees by PWIF upon the filing of a winding-up or bankruptcy petition in the Court by an affected employee against the employer. We are one of the two panel firms of solicitors for PWIF assisting affected employees in filing petitions against employers in arrears of wages in a timely manner, for the purpose of expediting the disbursement of ex-gratia payments and safeguarding labour rights. With efficient legal support, the PWIF Office was acknowledged in the Policy Address 2023 to have approved relevant applications and released ex-gratia payment within the specified time limits. The KPI is recognized to be met.
We shall continue to provide structured and well-monitored legal service with the benefit of our legal team’s professional experience to match the SAR Government’s policy directions and to meet the expectations of clients and the public, in a result-oriented culture.
Our firm has acted for a majority shareholder of a Hong Kong company (a holding company of electronic and medical device subsidiaries in the PRC) in successfully defending a Petition for just and equitable winding up presented by the other minority shareholders of the company (the “Petition”).
Various legal arguments including the threshold to establish that a company was operating on the basis of a quasi-partnership, the issue of deadlock and the impact of an irrational refusal of a reasonable offer were considered during the trial. A submission of no case to answer was made on behalf of our client after the cross examination of the Petitioners on the ground that the Petitioners’ claims has no prospect of success even without taking into account our client’s evidence. Despite that it is relatively rare and more challenging to make a submission of no case in civil proceedings, we are pleased that the submission was subsequently accepted by the Court and the Petition has been dismissed accordingly with much less time and costs being incurred.
Our team is led by our partner Mr. Tommy Tam and assisted by our partner Mr. Sidney Ho, our associate Mr. Alan So, and our trainee solicitor Ms. Chloe Fan.
