HKIAC Adds Council Members

NEWS ALERT
HKIAC Adds Council Members

The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (“HKIAC”) is pleased to announce the appointment of the following 11 members to the HKIAC Council (“Council”) (in alphabetical order):

• John Cock – an Australian national, Registered Architect and Director of On Q Consulting Limited – a bridging resource specialty firm in Hong Kong.
• Jianan Guo – a Mainland Chinese national and Vice-Chair of the Legal Profession Committee of the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association and General-Manager of the China Legal Services (Hong Kong) Limited.
• José-Antonio Maurellet SC – a French national, Senior Counsel at Des Voeux Chambers in Hong Kong and Vice-Chair of the Hong Kong Bar Association.
• Andrea Menaker – an American national and Partner at White & Case in London.  
• Catherine Mun – a Hong Kong Chinese national and Partner at Li & Partners in Hong Kong.
• Promod Nair – an Indian national, Founding Partner and Advocate of Arista Chambers in India.
• Ronald Sum – a Hong Kong Chinese national, Partner and Head of Arbitration, East Asia, at Locke Lord in Hong Kong.
• Robert Tang GBM, SBS QC, SC, JP – a Hong Kong Chinese and British national and Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.
• Meg Utterback – an American national, Partner and Co-Head of Global International Arbitration Practice at King & Wood Mallesons in London.
• Ing Loong Yang – a Singaporean national and Partner at Latham & Watkins in Hong Kong.
• Rimsky Yuen GBM, SC, JP – a Hong Kong Chinese national, Senior Counsel at Temple Chambers and Former Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong.

The Council is HKIAC’s governing body and is responsible for the Centre’s corporate governance and overall management, including establishing strategic directions for its business operations and dispute resolution services. 

With the addition of the new Council Members, HKIAC’s Council, composed of a maximum of 25 members, is presently fully constituted. This represents a significant achievement in a governance review process that HKIAC began last year. In 2018, in an effort to enhance transparency, diversity and inclusion, HKIAC instigated an independent review of the manner in which it constitutes its governing bodies. Following that review, in July 2018, HKIAC established a Nominations Committee, an independent body mandated to identify, vet and recommend candidates to Council for approval. HKIAC also introduced term limits of six years for Council Members. Since October 2018, the Nominations Committee has presented candidates for consideration to HKIAC on a regular basis. Its work will continue over the course of 2019 as the term limits of three long-serving Council members expire.

The current Council Members are practitioners, in-house counsel, arbitrators, judges, and non-legal professionals. They are from ten different jurisdictions, speak a total of eight languages, and represent over 22 industry sectors.

Matthew Gearing QC, Chairperson of HKIAC, says that “we are pleased to welcome the new Council Members and look forward to working with them and the existing Council Members, with the support of the Secretariat, to lead HKIAC to achieve further success.”

Albert Jan van den Berg, Member of the HKIAC Nominations Committee and Partner at Hanotiau & van den Burg, says that “I congratulate the HKIAC Council on its achievement of a new milestone. With the new appointments, Council Members are highly diverse in terms of the jurisdictions, gender and professional sectors they represent. The cumulative experience and expertise of the Council will undoubtedly make positive contributions to the already excellent work of HKIAC.”

Winnie Tam SC, JP, Member of the HKIAC Nominations Committee and Senior Counsel at Des Voeux Chambers, says: “the new appointments have greatly improved the diversity of the Council on the representation of both local and international talent. HKIAC will benefit from such a diverse Council and I look forward to seeing further support of the Centre’s work from the local and international communities.”

A full list of HKIAC’s Council Members is available here.

Media Contact
Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre
Karen Tan
Tel: (852) 2525 2381
Fax: (852) 2524 2171
Email: karen@hkiac.org