Asia-Pacific

Sidley is deeply committed to aiding local Hong Kong charitable organizations and businesses in achieving their goals. In 2014, a Sidley pro bono team in Hong Kong established a Hong Kong-registered charity, Help for Children (HFC) Asia Limited. HFC Asia currently funds two local charities in Hong Kong, which focus on the prevention and treatment of child abuse. In 2021, the Sidley team advised the charity in relation to all aspects of the legal requirements relating to its operations, including the raising and deployment of funds.

Sidley’s Hong Kong office is also active in the cancer impact investment field, working with clients and industry contacts in a pro bono capacity to establish investment funds that raise and deploy capital for companies that are developing transformative research and treatment options in relation to cancer prevention and care, particularly pediatric cancer treatment.

Additionally, a Sidley pro bono team in Hong Kong has been closely involved in framing and developing the Limited Partnership Fund Ordinance and related amendments. This landmark legislation has helped transform Hong Kong’s private fund market, as it is the first foundational law to be enacted that specifically relates to the asset management sector and that will permit the establishment of private funds as limited partnerships that are organized under Hong Kong law. Previously, Hong Kong’s private fund industry utilized investment fund structures that were almost exclusively structured and organized through offshore centers. Since the law was enacted in August 2020, more than 350 private funds have registered under the new regime, which continues to garner significant momentum and support from industry.

In 2021, the Sidley team also devoted considerable time to the re-domiciliation portion of the bill, which became law on November 1, 2021. This bill increases the scope and use of the Limited Partnership Fund regime and is further strengthening Hong Kong’s competitiveness as a primary international asset and wealth management hub. In a recent study, PWC has estimated that the new Limited Partnership Fund Regime may create up to 20,000 new job opportunities in Hong Kong.