Christina Ma

Haldanes is a Hong Kong-based law firm experienced in serving the needs of clients, both locally and throughout the Asia-Pacific. Established in 1975, the partners have an extensive collective knowledge of legal practice in the region. We cover Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Competition Law, Corporate & Commercial, Criminal Defence, Intellectual Property, Matrimonial & Family Law, Media & Entertainment, Private Client, Property & Conveyancing and Securities, Regulatory & Disciplinary Matters.

The firm has a strong reputation across all of its practice areas and its excellence has been acknowledged by various awards bodies. We consider one of our major strengths to be our flexible management structure. This gives each partner a high degree of autonomy when working with clients. It allows us to keep closely in touch with our clients and to identify specific needs and the means of achieving them.

The firm’s philosophy of reducing bureaucracy is also reflected in the efficiency with which we can respond to clients’ requirements and to be as cost effective as possible.

ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS AWARDS 2018

• CRIMINAL LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (WINNER
• CIVIL LITIGATION LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (FINALIST)
• MATRIMONIAL & FAMILY LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (FINALIST)

ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS AWARDS 2017

• CRIMINAL LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (WINNER)

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Christina is a criminal litigator and competition lawyer, who has expertise in dealing at all levels of criminal defence work. She has been involved in a number of high profile cases in Hong Kong. She has particular expertise in handling complex white-collar crimes, such as corruption, fraud, and money laundering cases as well as matters dealing with issues of restraint. She also has experiences in dealing with investigations conducted by the Competition Commission.

With her years of experience in the Criminal Defence Department, Christina has solid experiences in dealing with different authorities on behalf of her clients, including the Hong Kong Police Force, Commercial Crime Bureau (“CCB”), the Customs & Excise Department (“C&E”), the Department of Justice (“DoJ”), the Immigration Department, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (“ICAC”), the Securities and Future Commission (“SFC”) and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (“SEHK”).

Christina is known for her attention to detail and preparation, especially in complicated cases or those requiring systematic approach, coupled with her tenacity to fight for the best results for her clients.

Christina maintains a close working relationship with a variety of leading counsel, including Senior Counsel and Queen’s Counsel, which enables her to instruct the suitable counsel for her clients when needed.

Notable experiences include:-

Criminal Defence

• Assisted in a criminal appeal case at the Court of Appeal and the Court of Final Appeal concerning jurisdiction issue as to when an offer of bribery is made under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.
• Assisted in a criminal appeal case at the Court of Appeal and the Court of Final Appeal concerning the meaning of “connected persons” and “connected transactions” under the Listing Rules of SEHK.
• Defended 2 directors against allegations of utilising complex group structure to defraud several leading banks in Hong Kong and obtaining over HKD400 million trade loans in a 55 days High Court jury trial and its appeal at the Court of Appeal and Court of Final Appeal.
• Successfully defended a client in a 70 days District Court money laundering trial, involving the taking of evidence from Chinese witnesses in the People’s Court of Shenzhen under a Letter of Request to the mainland Chinese authorities. The case also involved issues of extradition and abuse of process elements which various exclusion of evidence and stay application have been made.
• Successfully defended a client in a 19 days District Court conspiracy to defraud trial, involving over HKD3 million trade loans.
• Various experiences in assisting in magistracy trials and mitigations, as well as applications for the admission of overseas counsel.
• Various experiences in dealing with disclosure obligation under restraint order as well as making applications for variation of restraint orders.

 Regulatory & Competition Law

• Preparing submissions to SEHK for disciplinary proceedings of a number of Hong Kong listed company chairman.
• Replying to SFC production notices in relation to various Hong Kong listed company personnel and attending SFC interviews.
• Advising an international chain in the implications of the First Conduct Rule under the Competition Ordinance.
• Advising client on the effects of the Competition Ordinance and attending interviews with client at the Competition Commission.

Practice Areas

Criminal Defence
Securities, Regulatory & Disciplinary Matters
Competition Law       

Admissions

Hong Kong

Languages

English, Cantonese, Mandarin

Education

• Postgraduate Certificate of Laws, University of Hong Kong
• Bachelor of Laws, University of Durham, United Kingdom

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