Francis has developed a broad commercial practice, with particular emphasis on securities and regulatory, insurance, employment, land, trust and probate, and international arbitration.
Qualified as an associate at the Chartered Governance Institute, Francis has acted for both the Securities and Futures Commission and senior management of Hong Kong listed companies in complex fraud, securities and commercial crime cases, and has appeared before Courts and specialist tribunals including the Market Misconduct Tribunal.
On the regulatory side, Francis has experience in suspension and resumption of trading of shares of listed companies, and also in proceedings under sections 213 and 214 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571). He is also involved in professional negligence cases concerning auditors, solicitors and/or financial advisers. He also advises on the compliance issues in the ESG field, under Appendix 27 of the Listing Rules.
As a Fellow at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and HKIAC accredited Tribunal Secretary, Francis has experience in arbitration proceedings under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and the HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules. He is actively involved in some recent high-profile art and entertainment, cryptocurrency, hedge funds and natural resources disputes, both as advocate and Tribunal Secretary.
He has experience in different insurance and medico-legal litigation and coroner’s inquest involving fatal accident, catastrophic injuries, third-party motor, public liability and policy dispute claims (including double insurance, reinsurance, indemnity and contribution). He has been regularly instructed by insurers including AIG, Allied World, Asia, Berkshire Hathaway, BOCG, Chubb, Liberty, Tokio Marine & Fire and Zurich.