Between January and March 2023, a cross-jurisdictional team led by colleagues in our Hong Kong office acted for Asia Pacific Network of Refugees (APNOR) on a pro-bono project reviewing documentation for the set-up of funding and a refugee programme in Australia.
APNOR is a refugee-led network of refugee-led initiatives operating in the APAC region, working with and for refugees to advocate for refugee agency and self-representation. HL BaSE was approached by PILNet’s Hong Kong Pro Bono Clearinghouse to assist APNOR in reviewing a set of policies and agreements as part of its project to create a Pooled Fund for refugee-led organisations and initiatives, which would provide direct funding by way of grants to successful applicants for pre-approved uses (the “Project”).
The documents, which involved elements of Hong Kong and Australian law requiring regulatory input and perspectives on banking and corporate law, were reviewed by our colleagues in the Hong Kong and Sydney Litigation, Banking, Corporate and SOAR teams. HL BaSE's cross-jurisdictional efforts will be instrumental in setting up this meaningful Project and ensuring that it progresses in accordance with Hong Kong and Australian legal and regulatory requirements, and exemplifies our unique ability to advise on multi-jurisdictional legal and regulatory issues.
The Project remains ongoing and currently is supported by the Sydney SOAR (Strategic Operations, Agreements and Relations) team on Australian privacy aspects.
Huge thanks to our colleagues for their work and dedication on this.
Hong Kong lead team: Antonia Croke (Partner, now relocated to London), Yolanda Lau (Senior Associate)
Other members from the Hong Kong team: Jenny Yim (Counsel, Banking), Derrick Lau (Counsel, Banking), Hoi Yu Suen (Senior Associate, Litigation), Ingrid Lai (Associate, M&A), Vanessa Kwok (Associate, M&A), Rachael Koc (Trainee Solicitor)
Sydney team: Mandi Jacobson (Partner, MDT), Lisa Mazor (Senior Associate, Banking), Angell Zhang (Senior Associate, MDT), Bonnie Liu (Associate, MDT), Lukas Stevens (Associate, M&A)