Asia Pacific
HFW providing legal advice in Asia Pacific
HFW has a strong physical presence in Asia Pacific, with seven offices in the region, in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. This provides us with an outstanding base from which to support clients operating throughout the region including in jurisdictions where we don't have an office.
What we do in Asia Pacific
We advise and support a range of clients in both contentious and non-contentious matters, including corporate entities, major banks, governments, ports and terminal operators and airlines.
Our experience in Asia Pacific
Over recent years we have worked on some of the most significant and ground-breaking legal matters in our core sectors in the region.
Examples of our work in Asia Pacific include:
- Successfully represented Zhejiang Xinan Chemical in a landmark ECJ judgment and subsequent appeal, relating to market economy treatment in an anti-dumping case concerning imports of glyphosate, a chemical herbicide, from China.
- Advised on various acquisitions, joint ventures, disposals and reorganisations of container terminal projects in the PRC including Qingdao, Dalian, Xiamen, Tianjin, Dachan, Shanghai (Waigaogiao and Yangshan) and Nansha including due diligence and negotiation of the acquisition agreements, joint venture agreements and equity sale agreements with the port authorities and other joint venture partners and obtaining local and state council approvals.
- Advising on the insurance and reinsurance issues arising out of headline incidents across Asia-Pacific, including SARS epidemic in Singapore (2003), Indian Ocean tsunami (2004), riots in Pakistan following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto (2007), Szechuan earthquake (2008), Queensland floods (2008 and 2010/11), Bangkok riots (2010), Japanese earthquake and tsunami (2011), New Zealand earthquake (2011), Iceland volcano (2011).
- Acted for the owners, managers, P&I and Hull & Machinery insurers of the APL SYDNEY, after the ship's anchor dragged and ruptured an ethane gas pipeline in the Port of Melbourne causing a loss estimated initially in excess at A$300 million. Legal proceedings resulted in a recent important precedent law regarding limitation of liability.
- Acting for China Light and Power in their appeal against the assessment of business rates and government rent levied in respect of the whole of their transmission, generation and distribution network over a nine year period between 1999/00-2007/08. The claim is approx £250m and will result in new law in terms of rating and valuation.
- Advising a Japanese carrier on state aid, slots and traffic rights, including auditing traffic rights issues between Japan and the 27 EU Member States.
- Acting for a Korean EPC Contractor in a dispute with its subcontractor relating to the supply and commissioning of Gas Turbines for a combined cycle power plant in Dubai.
