Maggie Chan Man-ki, founding president of the Small and Medium Law Firms Association of Hong Kong. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Small and medium-sized law firms will embrace thrilling opportunities in Guangdong province with restrictions expected to be relaxed, says Maggie Chan Man-ki, founding president of the Small and Medium Law Firms Association of Hong Kong.
These firms account for up to 90 percent of Hong Kong’s total number of legal service providers, but they face stiff competition as they mostly cover civil disputes, while large international legal companies handle bigger cases, such as mergers and initial public offerings.
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with a population of more than 70 million — 10 times that of Hong Kong — is filled with potential, but Hong Kong companies still lack an efficient channel to explore the vast mainland market.
Four years ago, Guangdong introduced a policy allowing law firms from Hong Kong and Macao to enter partnerships with their mainland counterparts but, to date, only 12 such projects have been realized.
Chan pointed to the high threshold required for the lackluster response — Hong Kong partner firms need to inject a minimum of 30 percent of the partnership’s total investment, while the total registered fund has to be at least 5 million yuan (US$737,267).
A pilot program unveiled by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in August pledged to ease the stipulation. It plans to conduct special examinations for Hong Kong and Macao legal practitioners to obtain professional qualifications to practice in the Bay Area, and tap directly into the market.
Chan, who’s also a Hong Kong deputy to the NPC, is glad to hear of the central government’s latest moves, as she has been striving to promote Hong Kong lawyers practicing on the market for the past eight years.
Along with a convenient working channel, she believes a joint management platform is needed for coordination of lawyers from the two different legal systems.
She proposed establishing a cross-industry incubator of professional services in Guangdong, gathering Hong Kong talents in the legal, architectural and accounting services domains.
The incubator should be designed to provide one-stop international services, and enrolled firms could enjoy preferential taxation and rental policies.
Chan admitted there are still challenges to grapple with, such as creating a green channel for capital transfer, professional management of clients’ funds and career insurance. But she’s confident that a hub of cross-boundary professional services could eventually pan out in the Bay Area.
