to enhance the previous enforcement regime. For example, under the enhanced regime, a successful party in an arbitration may pursue enforcement proceedings in Hong Kong and Mainland China simultaneously, provided that the total amount recovered does not exceed the amount determined in the award. A party may also seek interim relief from the enforcement court after the issuance of the award. The Supplemental Enforcement Arrangement, together with the Interim Measures Arrangement, empowers Mainland courts to issue interim relief in support of all stages of a Hong Kong arbitration. Another significant development is the enactment of legislative amendments to allow outcome-related fee structures (‘ORFS’) in arbitration and related proceedings in Hong Kong. These amendments offer greater funding flexibility for users of arbitration by legalising three types of ORFSs, namely conditional fee agreements, damagesbased agreements and hybrid damagesbased agreements, with appropriate safeguards. The amendments are expected to come into force later this year and further details of the new OFRS regime will be fleshed out by subsidiary legislation. Hong Kong’s OFRS regime complements its third-party funding regime, which has been fully effective since February 2019 and enables Hong Kong to offer a wide range of funding options to users of arbitration. You have worked in arbitral institutions and private practice before and you are now an independent arbitrator. What has been your experience with Hong Kong arbitration in those roles? I have been involved in Hong Kong applications. 48 of those orders granted the applications preserving assets valued approximately $2.1 billion in total. The legal framework governing the mutual recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards between Hong Kong and Mainland China has also been updated. On 19 May 2021, the supplemental arrangement on mutual enforcement of awards between Hong Kong and Mainland China (‘Supplemental Enforcement Arrangement’) fully came into effect. The Supplemental Enforcement Arrangement introduces several clarifications and amendments Arbitration in Hong Kong is a highly flexible process with multiple procedural options for managing and streamlining the proceedings. 90 LAWYERMONTHLYOCTOBER 2022
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk3Mzkz