🇸🇬 Funds · Arbitration
Singapore
Asia's principal neutral hub for fund management, family offices, and cross-border dispute resolution, with VCCs, a wide treaty network, and the SIAC and SICC for arbitration and commercial disputes.
Explore →Global Reach · Region
Asia-Pacific
Ten jurisdictions spanning the world's deepest growth markets and its most refined offshore platforms: Singapore and Hong Kong as neutral fund and capital-markets hubs, China and India for inbound investment, and the Cook Islands and the Pacific for asset-protection and succession structures. We coordinate the region through a facilitation & partner network, with the work executed by counsel admitted where the law lives.
Asia-Pacific is where cross-border structuring meets scale. Singapore and Hong Kong, the region's two principal neutral hubs, sit alongside the inbound-investment pull of China and India and a set of offshore platforms across the Pacific, each with a distinct purpose.
Firm facts · ReachA corporate and private-capital boutique with international reach: a principal office in Chicago, a second office in Oakbrook Terrace, offices in London and Dubai through partner firms, meeting locations by appointment in seven further US cities, and a partner network across ~51 jurisdictions on five continents. Founded 2013.
For a cross-border client the region rarely resolves to a single jurisdiction. A typical structure layers a neutral holding or fund vehicle in Singapore or Hong Kong above an operating presence in China, India, or Australia, and may sit a Cook Islands, Samoa, or Marshall Islands element alongside it for protection, succession, or maritime and holding purposes. New Zealand's transparent foreign-trust regime and Labuan's midshore platform round out the toolkit. Each jurisdiction answers to a demanding regulator, and MAS, the SFC, SEBI, ASIC, the FMA, and their peers all reward substance, clean ownership charts, and a credible commercial rationale.
Hart David Carson coordinates the Asia-Pacific workstream from the client side. We do not maintain offices in these jurisdictions and do not practice their law. Our role is facilitation and partner-network coordination, with all local advice, opinions, and filings delivered by locally admitted counsel and licensed providers. Where a matter touches a regulator, we coordinate the client's engagement in matters before that regulator and do not speak for the agency. We offer no guarantees as to outcome or timing.
Jurisdictions in Asia-Pacific
Ten platforms for funds, trusts, holding, and inbound investment, each opening to a full jurisdiction brief coordinated with locally admitted counsel.
🇭🇰 Capital Markets · Trusts
Hong Kong
A principal gateway for capital flows to and from mainland China, with deep equity markets, OFC and LPF fund vehicles, and common-law arbitration.
Explore →🇨🇳 Inbound · Joint Ventures
China
Indispensable for inbound investment, manufacturing, and joint ventures under the Foreign Investment Law, through WFOEs, the negative list, and the free-trade-zone regimes.
Explore →🇲🇾 Offshore · Captives
Labuan (Malaysia)
Malaysia's midshore international financial center, a cost-effective, treaty-accessible platform for holding companies, captives, and trading structures under Labuan FSA.
Explore →🇨🇰 Asset Protection · Trusts
Cook Islands
The jurisdiction most associated with creditor-resistant wealth preservation, through the international trust under the International Trusts Act 1984, with strong settlor protection.
Explore →🇲🇭 Maritime · Holding
Marshall Islands
One of the world's largest open ship registries and a flexible, Delaware-style non-resident corporate regime for maritime, holding and capital-markets vehicles.
Explore →🇼🇸 IBCs · Trusts
Samoa
A confidential, cost-effective Pacific platform for international companies, trusts and special-purpose structures, supervised by the Samoa International Finance Authority.
Explore →🇮🇳 Inbound · Technology
India
A high-growth market for inbound investment, technology and funds, with SEBI-regulated AIFs and the GIFT City IFSC emerging as a dedicated cross-border gateway.
Explore →🇦🇺 Corporate · Resources
Australia
A stable, sophisticated common-law market for corporate, resources, and funds work, with deep capital markets, CCIVs, and FIRB-screened foreign investment.
Explore →🇳🇿 Trusts · Foreign Trusts
New Zealand
A clean rule-of-law jurisdiction with a well-regarded, transparent foreign-trust regime and a straightforward corporate and holding environment.
Explore →What we coordinate across Asia-Pacific
One partner holds the matter; the region's licensed providers and locally admitted counsel deliver the work. We assemble and sequence the pieces from the client side.
01
Entity & fund formation
Singapore Pte Ltd and VCC, Hong Kong OFCs and LPFs, China WFOEs and joint ventures, India private limiteds and AIFs, and Australian Pty Ltd and CCIVs, all structured with local counsel and licensed providers.
02
Trusts, foundations & succession
Cook Islands and Samoa asset-protection trusts, Labuan trusts and foundations, New Zealand foreign trusts, and Singapore and Hong Kong private-trust structures, drafted and administered by licensed local fiduciaries.
03
Banking & account introductions
Introductions to private and corporate banks across the region, planned realistically around KYC, source-of-wealth and substance review. The relationship and the decision rest with the institution.
04
Regulatory & licensing engagement
Coordination of engagement in matters before MAS, the SFC, HKMA, SEBI, RBI, ASIC, the FMA, Labuan FSA, SIFA, and their peers, with credible, compliant applications handled through established local advisers.
05
Government affairs & facilitators
A vetted network of registry agents, licensed trustees, fund administrators, corporate-services firms, and banks, engaged by referral and coordinated with locally admitted counsel on the ground.
06
Tax & treaty posture
Coordination of jurisdiction tax and treaty considerations, among them territorial regimes, BEPS Pillar Two, CRS, and FATCA, alongside local and home-country tax counsel, who advise on home-jurisdiction treatment.
Facilitation & partner network only. Hart David Carson maintains no offices in these jurisdictions and does not practice their law; all local advice and filings are delivered by locally admitted counsel. No guarantees as to outcome or timing.
Asia-Pacific coordination FAQ
A few of the questions clients ask first about working across Asia-Pacific.
Which jurisdictions does Hart David Carson coordinate in Asia-Pacific?
Hart David Carson LLP coordinates matters across ten Asia-Pacific jurisdictions: Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Labuan (Malaysia), the Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, India, Australia, and New Zealand. These span the region's deepest growth markets and its most refined offshore platforms, with the substantive work done by counsel admitted in each jurisdiction.
How does the partner-network model work for cross-border deals in Asia-Pacific?
One Hart David Carson LLP partner coordinates the region through a facilitation and partner network, while locally admitted counsel deliver the substantive advice in each jurisdiction. A single matter may use Singapore or Hong Kong as a neutral fund and capital-markets hub, China or India for inbound investment, and the Cook Islands or the Pacific for asset protection.
Why are Singapore and Hong Kong used as regional hubs?
Singapore and Hong Kong serve as neutral fund and capital-markets hubs for Asia-Pacific, offering deep financial infrastructure, arbitration, and trust regimes. Hart David Carson LLP coordinates fund formation, capital markets, and structuring through these centers alongside locally admitted counsel and licensed providers.
Can Hart David Carson coordinate asset-protection structures in the Pacific?
Yes. Hart David Carson LLP coordinates asset-protection and succession structures through the Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands, and Samoa, jurisdictions known for their established offshore trust and entity regimes. These are coordinated with the licensed trustees and locally admitted counsel who administer and advise on them.
Who delivers the legal advice in each Asia-Pacific jurisdiction?
Coordination is performed by Hart David Carson LLP, while substantive legal advice, opinions, and statutory filings are delivered by, or with, locally admitted counsel in each Asia-Pacific jurisdiction. The firm never holds itself out as admitted to practice local law where it is not.
How do I start an Asia-Pacific matter with Hart David Carson LLP?
Speak to a partner at Hart David Carson LLP and the firm assembles the right local team across the relevant Asia-Pacific jurisdictions while you keep one line back to the firm. Describe the matter and you are connected to the partner who stays accountable for it across the region.
Reviewed by Jonathan D. Herpy, Sr., Senior Partner · Last updated October 2026 · Educational overview · Not legal advice