Hong Kong is one of the major jurisdictions for international arbitration in the world. It is the home to numerous international arbitration institutions including the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (“HKIAC”), International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) Hong Kong office and the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”) Hong Kong office. Hong Kong is also the home to eBRAM, an online dispute resolution platform particularly suitable for Small and Medium Size Enterprises.
A large number of arbitrations seated in Hong Kong involve parties or interests connected to Mainland China. These disputes commonly arise from investment disputes and/or investment redemption claims, international trade and breach of contract claims as well as technology and IP related matters. Hong Kong also serves as popular arbitral venue for disputes involving parties from other jurisdictions in Asia and Eastern Europe.
The Hong Kong courts consistently demonstrate a strong pro-arbitration stance and applications for enforcement of awards are generally granted quickly. The court will only set aside an award or refuse to enforce an award on limited grounds.
Tanner De Witt regularly works with its clients to navigate complex, cross-border and high value arbitrations. Our clients arise from a variety of sectors including finance, joint ventures, M&A, pharmaceuticals, intellectual property, technology, gaming and hospitality.
Our international arbitration team include experienced multi-lingual partners and lawyers, including native speakers of Mandarin and Hindi.
We handle international arbitrations under the most used arbitration forums, including cases administered by the HKIAC, CIETAC and ICC.
We advise a range of clients across different industries and we advise on:
- Negotiation of arbitration clauses
- Pre-arbitral negotiations in a dispute
- Selection of arbitral tribunals
- Enforcement action
- Arbitration funding
Tanner De Witt’s most recent experience in arbitration cases includes:
- Acting for a PE fund in HKIAC arbitration proceedings involving claims exceeding US$20 million against another PE fund managed by a well-known investor. We also acted in related court proceedings detailed below.
- Defending a global pharmaceutical company against a US$70 million claim brought by a Mainland distributor in an HKIAC arbitration proceedings. The relevant contracts were governed by New York law and we liaised with New York counsel to successfully defend the multiple allegations.
- Acting for a shareholder of an SGX-listed company in an HKIAC arbitration against other alleged shareholders concerning the trustee-manager. This matter also involved obtaining emergency relief from an Emergency Arbitrator before the constitution of the arbitral tribunal.
- Acting for a professional cryptocurrency investor in an HKIAC arbitration claiming lost profits following the forced closure of his account by a major exchange.
- Acted for a European company in an HKIAC arbitration against a Mainland Chinese company in relation to the ownership of intellectual property rights in products that were alleged to be co-designed.
- Acting against a Hong Kong entity of a large Mainland Chinese electronics group claiming commissions on sales for products supplied to a multinational technology company.
- Acting as co-counsel for a cryptocurrency exchange in an HKIAC arbitration claiming over US$84M under a manual margin agreement.
- Acting for a European fashion house in an HKIAC arbitration relation to claims and counterclaims related to late delivery of products.
- Our of our partners sitting as arbitrator in ICC arbitration where the claimant alleges breach of a software license agreement.
Our recent experience of arbitration related matters in the Hong Kong High Court includes:
- Obtaining an injunction in aid of arbitration proceedings and instituting contempt proceedings against the debtor for non-compliance with the court’s orders in the first listed arbitration above.
- Representing a UHNWI in obtaining a Mareva injunction in aid of ongoing arbitration proceedings in Singapore in relation to shares of a company listed on the NYSE.
- Acting for Claimant to enforce an Emergency Award restraining breaches of a cooperation and non-compete agreement between manufacturers of food products in the Hong Kong Court of First Instance.
- Acting for cryptocurrency exchange to successfully set aside settlement agreement signed without proper authority purported settling a Hong Kong seated arbitration.
- Acting for a party to apply to set aside a partial award on the basis the arbitral tribunal had exceeded its jurisdiction.