William specialises in contentious regulatory work and financial services and commercial litigation. He represents both institutional and individual clients in investigations by regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong on matters including market misconduct, money-laundering, bribery and corruption, mis-selling, internal controls failure, fraud, employee whistleblowing and data breaches. On the advisory side, leveraging his in-house experience William frequently provides counsel on a broad range of regulatory and compliance issues concerning financial institutions and listed companies, including new business initiatives (the drafting of client agreements), licensing issues and internal controls, as well as emerging trends such as the use of Tech and virtual assets. As a litigator, William has over 15 years of experience in advising financial institutions, listed and private companies and family offices/high net worth individuals on high-stake commercial disputes, from pre-action strategy and settlement negotiations, interim injunctive relief, commencement of proceedings and trial, to enforcement of judgments and arbitration awards. William has been ranked by leading legal directories since 2018, including Legal 500 ("Next Generation Lawyer" for Disputes Resolution), Who's Who Legal ("Future Leader" in Investigations), LexisNexis ("40 Under 40") and Chinese Business Law Journal (20 Rising Stars in international firms). Clients have consistently provided positive testimonials about William: "William is highly praised for his top-notch litigation work representing clients on investigations relating to market misconduct and white-collar crime." (Who's Who Legal Investigations 2022) "William has been a standout: he is commercially astute, technically sound and extremely responsive." (Legal 500 Hong Kong 2022) "William Wong is meticulous, professional, thoughtful and willing to listen and consider client needs." (Legal 500 Hong Kong 2022) "William is a seasoned professional with in-depth experience not just in law, but also possesses excellent compliance related skills and techniques to deal with regulators. He is also very competent in civil litigation. He is highly accessible and responsive." (Legal 500 Hong Kong 2021) "William is a “very experienced and highly skilled litigation lawyer” whose “responsiveness and attitude is top class”." (WWL Investigations 2021) "William is “knowledgeable” and has an “ability to deliver succinct and appropriate advice”." (Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2018) Before joining Howse Williams in April 2022, William spent over seven years at Clifford Chance's dispute resolution and regulatory practices after working at the Legal and Compliance Department at Bank of American Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse for four years. He trained and worked with Simmons & Simmons in Hong Kong and London. William is one of the authors of the Hong Kong chapter of The Practitioner's Guide to Global Investigation (3rd-6th editions) and Lissack and Horlick on Bribery and Corruption (3rd edition). He is fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.
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