Dechert's appoints litigation and regulatory enforcement attorney Maria Sit as Managing Partner of the Hong Kong office

Dechert's appoints litigation and regulatory enforcement attorney Maria Sit as Managing Partner of the Hong Kong office

Dechert has appointed litigation and regulatory enforcement attorney Maria Sit as the managing partner of the Hong Kong office. The purpose is to fill the void left by the departure of the previous managing partner, David Cho, to manage Milbank's Seoul office in January.

For Dechert's foreign clients and the legal sector in general, "Hong Kong continues to offer prospects," Sit stated.

A new regulatory framework for virtual assets and a consultation paper to expand the SFC's enforcement powers are only two examples of what the SFC has done on the regulatory front. There will undoubtedly be a rise in enforcement actions over the coming year to two years now that a new head of enforcement has been appointed.

Formerly a legal counsel at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong from 2013 to 2014, Sit joined Dechert in 2019 as the Asia head and worldwide co-leader of the firm's white-collar, compliance, and investigations practice.

Her practice has spanned over two decades, during which she has gained extensive experience in mainland China and Hong Kong in the areas of financial services regulation, complicated civil litigation, and dispute resolution.

Since the Hong Kong government has recently established initiatives to encourage the virtual assets industry, Sit anticipated that more conflicts connected to digital assets would surface.

The elements of Bitcoin and digital keys were summarised in a ruling by Hong Kong courts that handled disputes concerning digital assets and granted a proprietary injunction over bitcoins (Nico Constantijn Antonius Samara v. Stive Jean Paul Dan, 2022). (Yan Yu Ying v Leung Wing Hei, 2022).

The number of lawsuits against troubled assets is likely to rise while the economy is tanking, according to Sit. There has been a recent rash of debt defaults by PRC real estate developers, and this might have knock-on effects throughout the economy.

Given the multifaceted nature of many funding arrangements, Sit predicted an increase in the number of conflicts resolved through concurrent actions in multiple jurisdictions or by a combination of court and arbitration. In addition, the question of whether the court has the authority to hear winding-up petitions in the event of an arbitration agreement or an exclusive jurisdiction agreement has recently emerged as a contentious one.

A variety of new regulatory frameworks, notably the SFC's rules on risk management and disclosures for ESG funds, have also been introduced by Hong Kong regulators in response to the growing interest in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments.

Sit continued, "With these new standards and in light of the volatility in the equity markets, we anticipate seeing more cases of investors suing ESG funds for mis-selling claims, particularly to seek compensation for losses incurred as a result of a fund's non-compliance with regulatory requirements.

According to Sit, there will be a dramatic shift in the dispute resolution landscape once the Mainland Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Reciprocal Enforcement) Bill, which was enacted on October 26 and is currently waiting to be gazetted, goes into effect. It is possible to directly recognize and enforce about 90% of civil and commercial decisions from the mainland in Hong Kong.