Hong Kong Could Challenge London for Arbitration Leadership, Bar Chief Says

Hong Kong could become the world’s leading arbitration centre within the next decade, according to Jose-Antonio Maurellet, chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association. Maurellet told the South China Morning Post that the city’s role as a global fundraising centre for mainland Chinese and international businesses was helping attract high-value disputes. He said Hong Kong’s arbitration work had grown rapidly and was drawing leading legal practitioners from abroad.

Hong Kong tied with Singapore as the second-most preferred arbitration seat in a survey by Queen Mary University of London last year. London remained the most preferred location in the survey. The total amount in dispute in cases administered by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre last year was HK$117.7 billion, equivalent to about US$15 billion.

Maurellet said Hong Kong could overtake London in less than 10 years if the city continued to attract international disputes linked to its capital-raising activities. He pointed to the international composition of Hong Kong’s arbitration community as another advantage. About one-third of arbitrators at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre come from other common-law jurisdictions, including England, Australia and New Zealand.

Maurellet acknowledged that some foreign practitioners still viewed Hong Kong mainly as a forum for China-related cases. He said the city needed to highlight the wider international scope of its caseload and build confidence among overseas users. He identified Brazil, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates as emerging markets of interest.

He also said lawyers had shown more interest than expected in the Hong Kong-based International Organisation for Mediation, whose mandate includes resolving interstate conflicts. The comments followed Maurellet’s attendance at a ceremony in London marking the opening of the legal year in England and Wales. More than 100 senior representatives from legal organisations in more than 40 jurisdictions attended the event at Westminster Abbey.

Maurellet said Hong Kong’s development offered an additional option to jurisdictions that might not previously have used traditional arbitration centres. He argued that the city’s bilingual environment and expanding international caseload could attract a larger share of global arbitration work.