In-house Legal
Market Overview & Salaries
Despite political uncertainties and the global pandemic, the Hong Kong legal market remained relatively busy throughout 2022.
The sentiment from 2021 continued into 2022 for the in-house legal market. As an international hub, Hong Kong attracts many expats worldwide. The result of the pandemic and the stringent international travel restrictions accelerated the relocation and/or retirement plans of senior legal counsels and General Counsels.
We witnessed newly created roles for high-demand TMT, data privacy and cybersecurity lawyers across the financial services market. Financial institutions scrambled to secure experienced lawyers at a significant premium in 2022.
Private equity, hedge funds and asset managers all made substantial hires.
Demand continues for sought-after derivatives and structured finance lawyers. Chinese firms remained active, hiring straight from private practice or western counterparts.
With the recent changes and introduction of IP and data privacy/cybersecurity laws in China, and the continuously overlapping regulatory regimes, financial institutions need to build their legal capability in this area.
The private equity, hedge fund and asset management industries have experienced the most growth. Companies with a smaller presence in Hong Kong or Asia hired their first General Counsel. Firms saw the benefit of having an in-house counsel or General Counsel actively involved in their business decision process. Many chose to hire into their business and moved away from engaging external counsel as their primary source of legal advisory, reflecting the buoyant market within Asia.
Financial Institutions continued to hire derivative and structured finance lawyers driven by a talent shortage, elevated levels of trading activity in these markets and continued regulatory reforms.
Areas of Activity
TMT and Data Privacy VP/Director/Executive Director level
Derivatives and Structured Finance AVP / VP level
Private Equity, M&A, Real Estate Counsel / APAC General Counsel
Financial Services Regulatory AVP / VP
Areas of Inactivity
Corporate IPO Lawyers General Banking Lawyers
In-house Salaries
Notes:
*1. The composition of a General Counsel's compensation will vary significantly depending on the industry, team size, management responsibility, reporting structure, years of experience, geographical remit and company performance. A large portion of a General Counsels' compensation can come from bonus incentives, stock awards, carry (industry dependent), children's school fees and debentures, club membership and other benefits. For a detailed confidential discussion, please get in touch with us. *2. The APAC General Counsel is responsible for all lines of business (e.g. investment banking, consumer banking, and wealth management); therefore, their salary and total compensation will reflect this.
We foresee the 2022 sentiment to continue into this year. In 2021 and 2022, we witnessed many people relocating out of Hong Kong. With the increased investment in technology and reporting and the regulation changes, financial institutions have and will continue to add to develop their tech legal teams. The relaxation of Hong Kong’s international travel restrictions and the ease of covid restrictions have caused lawyers to return to the city. Hong Kong remains the regional financial services hub, serving active international firms in the Greater China region.
Joanne Lee
Associate Director FS Insurance, Legal & Compliance +852 2499 9796 joannelee@puresearch.com