Baker McKenzie is pleased to announce that Partner Christina Lee has been appointed to the Takeovers and Mergers Panel and the Takeovers Appeal Committee for the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), effective from 1 April 2024.
The Takeovers and Mergers Panel ("Takeovers Panel") has the following responsibilities:
- Hear disciplinary matters in the first instance and review rulings by the Takeovers Executive at the request of any party dissatisfied with such a ruling
- Consider novel, important or difficult cases referred to it by the Takeovers Executive
- Reviews, upon the SFC's request, the provisions of the Codes on Takeovers and Mergers and Share Buy-backs (Codes) and the Rules of Procedure for hearings under the Codes, and recommends amendments as appropriate.
The Takeovers Appeal Committee reviews disciplinary rulings of the Takeovers Panel at the request of an aggrieved party for the sole purpose of determining whether any disciplinary sanction imposed by the Panel is unfair or excessive.
About the appointment, Christina Lee, who chairs the Firm's Asia Pacific Capital Markets Practice, said, "I am honored to be appointed to the Takeovers Panel and Takeovers Appeal Committee. I look forward to bringing my legal and industry expertise to the table, and working closely with the chairperson and fellow panel and committee members in this new capacity."
Christina has extensive experience in both public and private mergers and acquisitions, including takeovers and privatizations, strategic investments and joint ventures. She is knowledgeable in equity fund raisings and regulatory compliance for Hong Kong-listed companies, including resumption of trading under the delisting regime of the Listing Rules. She has acted on many significant transactions including: Boston Scientific Group’s partial offer for a 65% stake in Acotec Scientific Holdings, Luk Fook's acquisition of a majority stake in Hong Kong Resources, China Merchants Hoi Tung's acquisition of a 49% stake in Best Mart 360, Golden Eagle Retail Group's HKD 2.25 billion privatization and Chong Hing Bank’s HKD 5.1 billion privatization, among others.