Malcolm Kemp

KEMP’s namesake co-founder is a 35-year dispute resolution veteran who rose to head Stephenson Harwood’s Hong Kong litigation and financial services practice. His decades at the top of the Big Law tree have given him a keener appreciation than most for what really goes into an effective and satisfying legal practice. The recipe turns out to be simple (but not easy to reproduce): unimpeachable technical skill, a cost-conscious approach and, above all, great colleagues. KEMP’s tribe is the handpicked team he wants to play for at this stage in his career.  

With a practice anchored in Hong Kong and London – cities he loves in equal measure - Malcolm has earned his burnished reputation in focal areas: commercial litigation, insolvency and restructuring, marine and international trade and contentious regulation. Clients count on his plain-dealing approach, whether the news is good or bad: best-in-class representation turns on an honest appraisal of interests and prospects. 

Working between two multicultural hubs on either sides of the world, Malcolm makes time to enjoy Hong Kong’s buzz and work ethic, and London’s inexhaustible culture and history. KEMP’s horizons are broader than the HK-UK axis: a multilingual European and Chinese-speaking team has the prowess to operate effectively for clients on all the territory in between.

M.B. KEMP LLP (Founding Partner)
September 2020 - present

Stephenson Harwood (Senior Partner)
December 1989 - July 2020

Keble College, University of Oxford 1973-1976

England and Wales admission: 1980

Hong Kong admission: 1982

Director of The Leprosy Project

Trusts and fiduciary services  

The Estate of Nina Wang 

Acting for the Trustees in long running disputes over the will of Nina Wang, Asia’s richest woman. 

The Ho Tung settlement 

Disputes over the terms of the settlement. Acting for the children of Eric Ho Tung. 

The Estate of Oscar Wong Lai Ying 

Acting for the representative of the Estate against claims from alleged family members.  Successful defences of claims. 

Dispute resolution  

GE Commercial –v- Lafe 

Major claims involving insurance and factoring issues.  Acting for GE Commercial. 

Service of pleadings’ issues 

Service out of the jurisdiction. Landmark case regarding service: Intex Corporation, Injunctions and discovery orders in support of Arbitrations. 

Restructuring and insolvency 

• Recovery of substantial sums for the Liquidators from the failed PRC company Canton Properties. 
• Conducting successful examinations of directors and thereafter recovering sums owed to various Companies in liquidation.
• Recoveries enabling substantial dividends to be paid to creditors arising out of the liquidation of the New China Finance Group in the late 1990s.
  
  

Fraud and asset tracing  

• Tracking the disposal of funds inappropriately obtained from many Chinese State Owned Enterprises and successfully recovering the same. 
• Assisting in the tracking and recovery of assets for the Government of Egypt. 
• Successful action by injunction and recoveries for various clients on “email scams” (the diversion of payments to fictitious bodies)
  
  

Banking and financial services litigation 

• Acting against a PRC bank and recovering property seized under a mortgage executed post liquidation. 
• Advising various Banks and financial institutions on Factoring issues. 
• Advising many financial institutions on money laundering issues and taking appropriate action in many cases.

Construction experience

• Acted for Hsin Chong Construction in various disputes.
• Acted for the owners of 17 apartments in Banguio Villas against the Buildings Department. 
• Acted for one of Hong Kong’s major asphalt laying companies who have been in dispute with the Airport Authority Asphalt Surfaces (International) Limited.