The recently announced agreement between China and Hong Kong which will allow SAR-based lawyers to offer mainland legal services may also present new opportunities for UK and US law firms, according to a recent report.
From next year, Hong Kong-registered law firms will be permitted to form alliances with their Chinese counterparts, although they will not be allowed to open their own practices on the mainland.
This has led observers to suggest that although direct access to the Chinese market by foreign firms is still banned, foreign firms with practices registered in Hong Kong that are suitably ring-fenced from the parent company may also be eligible to work in tandem with mainland firms.
Speaking to the Legal Week news service on Thursday, an unnamed Clifford Chance senior partner observed that as its Hong Kong branch is already registered and taxed as a local firm, it may be able to benefit from the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa).
'[Locally] CC can be classified as a Hong Kong firm, so to get the benefit of the Cepa we need to change our Chinese representative offices over to our Hong Kong office. We have been preparing for this change for many years,' he revealed.
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