This article published by ALB yesterday is well worth a quick read…
To precis.. Business is still good in China and it benefits all .. PRC firms and International firms based in Hong Kong..
Here’s an extract
If the amount of mainland business in Hong Kong’s economy continues to grow, will it mean that PRC law firms will be elevated to more important positions and take on more work that has been done by Hong Kong firms in the past?
The lawyers ALB China talked to all agreed that as the legal and regulatory environment in mainland China becomes more sophisticated, the role of PRC legal counsel in cross-border transactions is becoming increasingly important. In the case of Coca-Cola/Huiyuan, Beijing-based Dacheng has been instructed by the acquirer to handle the antitrust filings, which are critical to the success of the deal.
The increasing strength of the PRC counterparts in deals is mostly good news for international law firms in Hong Kong. “We always see China legal issues to be best advised on by PRC firms for their expertise, and the growing need for PRC legal advisors to come into the structuring of a transaction is inevitable. But it doesn’t mean that if PRC firms are stronger and more involved in a deal we will have less share of the profit of the deal,” said Bernita Yu of Slaughter and May.
Given that most of the cross-border deals are structured through offshore vehicles and involve common law jurisdictions, international counsel in Hong Kong will maintain a clear lead in advising on these deals.
Full article at http://asia.legalbusinessonline.com/news/breaking-news/31942/details.aspx
There is the "if" they mention, the growth question.
I think, now, in the past week we’ve read three wildly different figures for the shrinkage of GDP in the PRC in 2009. We’re pretty sure nobody really has any idea what the state of play for China’s economy in 09-10 will be until after the Chinese new year. As usual the lawyers in this article play towards the positive although we have to say that things are looking a bit more negative than some would like to admit.
