Norton Rose Fulbright launches FinTech
start-ups pro bono legal clinics in Hong Kong

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has launched Hong Kong pro bono legal clinics for FinTech start-ups who may be impacted by current market conditions. The Hong Kong initiative is an extension from the UK pro bono legal clinics launched earlier in May 2020. 

The Hong Kong office of the firm is providing start-ups with the opportunity to speak with its lawyers via virtual legal clinics staffed by partners and associates from a number of practice areas, including corporate, regulatory and restructuring about issues they may be currently facing and need a steer on. The clinics are available to start-ups at any stage of their development.

The initial initiative will run for a period of three months by Norton Rose Fulbright lawyers who will provide advice at one-to-one 30-minute clinics. Start-ups wishing to participate will need to fill in an application form and will be selected for assistance on the basis of need and the appropriateness of support which Norton Rose Fulbright can provide.

Norton Rose Fulbright Fintech and regulatory partner Etelka Bogardi who is leading the Hong Kong programme commented:

“FinTech startups are facing significant challenges as COVID-19 continues to impact all business sectors. As a leading FinTech firm, we are constantly looking at how best we can support our clients in the sector, especially those operating in start-up phases. We have already rolled our pro bono legal clinics for UK-based start-ups and the take up has proven the real need for us to provide support and advice however we can, this has prompted us to roll out the same initiative in Hong Kong. Norton Rose Fulbright has built on our FinTech expertise since the global financial crisis in 2008, we aim to use that knowledge to help start-ups anticipate and deal with a variety of potential issues around regulation, funding, restructuring and risks, and encourage those who may have queries to apply to our pro bono legal clinics.”

Norton Rose Fulbright is one of the world’s leading FinTech law firms. The firm’s multidisciplinary Tier 1-ranked practice comprises over 300 lawyers across the globe and advises clients on the legal, regulatory and policy challenges related to the development and deployment of technology in the financial services sector. Norton Rose Fulbright advises a wide range of clients on high profile matters, including product launches, investment, M&A and cross-border matters across all areas of FinTech, comprising robo-advice, P2P platforms, payment systems, RegTech, InsurTech, WealthTech, consumer credit, artificial intelligence, smart contracts, blockchain/distributed ledger technology and cryptocurrencies. Clients include FinTech start-ups, financial institutions, multinational corporates, technology companies, regulators, governments, industry associations and investors.