Appleby — China

About

The firm: Appleby is a leading offshore law firm. The team of legal specialists advise global public and private companies, financial institutions and private individuals. Appleby is regularly recognised for its integrity and excellent client service, these are the values the firm prides itself on and are at the very core of its business. Appleby’s global presence allows it to provide timely and comprehensive legal advice at the times that matter most to clients. Appleby is located in the key offshore jurisdictions of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Mauritius, and the Seychelles, as well as the international financial centres of Hong Kong and Shanghai. Appleby works with clients to achieve practical solutions whether in a single location or across multiple jurisdictions. Appleby is a full service law firm providing expert advice across corporate, dispute resolution, property, regulatory and private client and trusts practice areas. - Principal areas of work Mergers and acquisitions: Appleby’s mergers and acquisitions team regularly works with FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies around the globe to help them deploy strategic growth and restructuring initiatives, whether involving single jurisdictions or complex multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary transactions. They actively monitor M&A trends through their half-yearly Offshore-i report and their unique global presence means that they are able to advise clients on complex, cross-border transactions involving the offshore jurisdictions. Regulatory: Appleby’s regulatory and compliance team is one of the world’s largest offshore, comprised of experts who not only have first-hand knowledge of local regulation, but who have in many cases, helped to shape it. Their team are skilled at putting technical regulatory information and decision-making in a commercial context, and clients know that they can assemble the team to deliver an international service, quickly and seamlessly. Technology and innovation: Appleby’s multi-disciplinary technology and innovation group comprises experts from each of their ten offices to help businesses meet the new challenges and support clients across a broad range of emerging technologies including blockchain, virtual currencies, ICOs, data protection and financial technologies. Banking and finance: Appleby’s banking and asset finance team are experienced in all aspects of law relating to banking, ship and aircraft registration and finance, asset backed finance and project and infrastructure finance. They provide advice to major banks and financial institutions, ship and aircraft owners, lessors, and lessees and have deep and trusted relationships with numerous international law firms, shipping groups and financial institutions around the world. Funds: Appleby’s fund finance team are experts in advising banks and finance providers in the development of sophisticated financing solutions. The team are globally recognized as leaders in the fund finance sector and have advised on a variety of different financing structures involving funds that have ranged from a hundred million to billions of dollars in subscribed investor commitments. Insolvency and restructuring: Appleby’s insolvency and restructuring team advise directors, institutional lenders, creditors (secured or unsecured), borrowers, or insolvency practitioners in large insolvencies that have offshore or cross-border elements. The team has extensive insolvency and restructuring experience across a wide range of industries, including retail, hospitality and leisure, healthcare, financial services, real estate and manufacturing. Trust disputes: As family arrangements become more complex, trustees and beneficiaries are frequently being drawn into disputes which lead to court proceedings. Appleby’s talented, experienced and solution driven trust disputes team is committed to delivering the highest possible level of client service and regularly work together across their global locations to provide expert multi-jurisdictional advice. Employment: Appleby’s specialist employment team provides advice on employment and immigration law to a range of global clients, including banks, financial services businesses, companies and directors, as well as their onshore legal advisers. With close ties to local governments, they are often consulted on, and help to share, new laws brought into force across the jurisdictions in which they operate. Fraud and asset tracing: Appleby’s fraud and asset tracing team are experts in helping clients to trace and recover assets across international jurisdictions, regardless of where proceedings originate. Their clients include major financial institutions, multinational corporations, government agencies, state-owned corporations and high net worth individuals, who have been defrauded or have received the proceeds of fraud. They also advise directors and officers, and other service providers caught in the fallout of fraudulent activities. Property: Appleby are a leading provider of property services in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Isle of Man and Jersey. Their property team provides expert legal advice on all aspects of commercial and residential property, including sales and purchases, leasing, development and property finance transactions. They are frequently recognised for their experience and excellent client service and are consistently ranked in the top tiers for property work. They regularly work directly with developers, investors, business occupiers, banking institutions and private individuals. PC&T: Appleby’s private client and trust team provide trust and foundation services to private individuals, families, and fiduciary companies. They advise on all aspects of trust law, including the establishment, administration, restructuring and termination of private, charitable, and commercial trusts and foundations. They act in a personal capacity as Protector, Enforcer and Director (of private trust companies) for a number of discretionary trusts and are frequently instructed by blue-chip trust institutions. ### Languages - Cantonese - English - Japanese - Mandarin - and other Chinese dialects ### Memberships - Lex Mundi ### Staffing Figures - 5 Partner - 2 Other fee earners

Office locations

Practice areas

Lawyers in this office

Alvin Sin

Alvin is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution department of Appleby’s Shanghai office, and a Legal Manager of Appleby’s Hong Kong office. · Dispute Resolution

Hannah Yao

Hannah Yao (Yao Hua) is a Partner in the Corporate department of Appleby’s Shanghai office. · Corporate / M&A

Malcolm Moller

Malcolm Moller is the Group Managing Partner at Appleby. Malcolm has been with Appleby since 2003, having worked previously in the Appleby Bermuda office and led the opening of the Appleby offices in Mauritius and the Seychelles. He is a member of the Corporate department and both the Insurance and Structured Finance teams. He specialises in advising financial institutions on financial regulation, regulatory capital issues, financial institution M&A, and insurance-related transactions. He advises on private equity funds, hedge funds, derivatives transactions and securities offerings, as well as a range of corporate and corporate finance transactions He has extensive experience representing corporations, financial institutions and other entities. His experience spans public and private M&A, credit, restructuring, bankruptcy, capital markets, fund formation and winding-up, a variety of strategic and advisory corporate assignments. Malcolm has worked on a number of transactions for financial institutions, private equity and hedge fund clients, including Corsair, Wellington Management Company, LLP, Brevan Howard, Monsoon Capital, Black River Group, LaCrosse Global Fund Services, Platinum Equity, LLC, Goldman Sachs, Avago Technologies, Calyon Financial SNC, Commscope, Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, AIG Group, New York Life International, LLC, DAMAC Holdings Co., LLC, Kerzner International Group, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Bank of New York, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, UBS A.G, Fortress Investment Group, Swiss Re, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Axis Bank Limited, ICICI Bank Limited, Macquarie Bank Ltd, National Australia Bank Limited, Westpac Banking Corporation, Standard Bank Group, General Motors Corporation, Lehman Brothers Group, Intelsat Corporation, The Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company, Nedbank Group, Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa, Altirah Telecoms (the common investment vehicle of Altirah Capital and the Oppenheimer family´s private equity portfolio), Standard Chartered Bank Group, China Development Bank and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ. His experience in credit transactions has included representing both banks and borrowers in multi-billion-dollar secured, unsecured and commercial paper facilities for companies. In addition, his experience has included advising on strategic, regulatory, corporate governance, and director and officer liability issues for clients. · Corporate / M&A

Michael Makridakis

Michael Makridakis is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution department in Appleby’s Hong Kong and Shanghai offices. · Dispute Resolution

Richard Grasby

Richard Grasby is a partner in Appleby’s Hong Kong office, leading the Private Client, Trusts and Family Office practice. Richard advises trustees, ultra-high net worth individuals, private trust companies and family offices on the establishment, restructuring and administration of trusts, including special trusts i.e. BVI VISTA, Cayman STAR and Employee Benefit Trusts. He regularly assists in estate administration, succession planning and family governance. Private clients and family offices instruct Richard to advise on the use of corporate vehicles for asset holding and succession planning purposes. Richard is an expert in regulatory law including AML, AEOI, economic substance sanctions and licensing and risk management for trust companies. He also advises on collective investment funds, particularly unit trusts and private label funds. · Private Client