Christina Ma

Notable Cases:

• 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.
  • 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, followed by its two retrials at the Court of First Instance (60-day trial which involved numerous pre-trial arguments, stay application, discharge of jury application and costs application).
  • 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-day High Court jury trial and its appeal at the Court of Appeal and Court of Final Appeal.
  • Successfully defended a client in a 70-day 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 two clients in an 86-day District Court trial involving 2 public doctors who were charged with Conspiracy to Commit Misconduct in Public Office.
  • Defended clients in a 37-day District Court trial who were alleged of money laundering over HKD1 billion. The case involved the usage of money exchangers and frequent transactions with the mainland.
  • Successfully defended a client in a 19-day District Court conspiracy to defraud trial, involving over HKD3 million trade loans.
  • Successfully defended a client in a highly contested 15-day trial in the District Court concerning one count of Conspiracy to Defraud and 3 counts of Money Laundering. The case involved the calling of two immunised prosecution witnesses and rebuttal evidence. 
  • Defended a client who is a member of the Medical Council and was alleged of Misconduct in Public Office in a 13-day District Court trial.
  • 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 companies’ chairmen.
  • Replying to SFC production notices in relation to various Hong Kong listed companies
  • Advising and preparing various Hong Kong listed companies’ chairmen, directors and non-executive directors for the attendance of SFC and AFRC interviews.
  • Advising an international chain in the implications of the First Conduct Rule under the Competition Ordinance.
  • Advising corporate clients in case of dawn raid and office searches by SFC, Competition Commission, ICAC and/or the Police.
  • Representing senior executives in Competition Commission investigations, including replying to Production Notices, attending investigation interviews and applications for leniency.

What the legal directories say:

• Recognised by Asian Legal Business as ALB Rising Stars Hong Kong 2023.
• Recognised by Doyle’s Guide as Hong Kong Criminal Law Rising Star 2023.
• Recognised by Mondaq as Mondaq Thought Leading Author for Anti-Trust / Competition Law, Hong Kong Autumn 2023.
• Recognised by The Legal 500 as a Recommended Lawyer in Regulatory: Anti-Corruption and Compliance 2024: “The unbelievably hard working, clever and caring associate Christina Ma is developing an excellent reputation in the field, regularly working on high-profile matters, including cases of fraud and money laundering.”