Overview

Shaun is a partner in our LitigationInsolvency & Restructuring Group and Managing Partner of our Hong Kong Office. He has extensive experience acting both for and against insolvency practitioners in all forms of external administrations, as well as acting for parties involved in general commercial, financial services and trust disputes, and has been involved in many of the largest offshore disputes to come before the courts of the BVI and Cayman Islands in recent history.

He also has considerable experience advising on corporate governance matters, including in relation to the duties owed by directors and general partners, in addition advising more generally on the proper operation of investment funds and other offshore structures. Prior to relocating to Hong Kong in 2015, Shaun spent nine years practising in the Cayman Islands and in the British Virgin Islands and is one of only a few offshore practitioners in Hong Kong to have spent significant time living and working in each jurisdiction, and regularly appearing before their courts.

Shaun has been named a ‘leading lawyer’ in IFLR for more than 10 consecutive years and is ranked in all the major legal directories including Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal, and is regularly retained to provide expert evidence in proceedings before foreign courts and tribunals.

Shaun currently a member of the executive committee of the Restructuring and Insolvency Faculty, Hong Kong Institute of CPAs.

Expertise

  • Shareholder Disputes
  • Contractual Disputes
  • Distressed Funds
  • Claims against Auditors, Investment Managers and Advisors
  • Fraud and White Collar Crime
  • Claims Against Directors
  • Trust Litigation
  • Banking Litigation
  • Injunctions and Other Stand Alone/ Ancillary Relief
  • Disputes Concerning TIEAs and Notices to Produce
  • Appointment and Removal of Liquidators and Receivers
  • Asset Tracing
  • Preference and Other Avoidance Actions
  • Schemes of Arrangement and Re-Organisations
  • Enforcement of Security
  • Advising Liquidators and Receivers Generally
  • Advising Creditors and Other Stakeholders Generally
  • Cross Border Reorganisations and Parallel Proceedings

Work Highlights

  • Acting for the liquidators of Weavering Macro Fixed Income Fund, including in respect of the landmark proceedings brought against the company’s directors for breach of duty and proceedings against investors for the recovery of redemption payments made shortly before the company’s collapse
  • Acting for the independent directors and sole limited partner in respect of the multi-billion dollar dispute concerning the XiO Group
  • Acting in numerous appraisal actions brought pursuant to s.238 of the Companies Act following take-private transactions, including Qunar Cayman Islands, Zhaopin, KongZhong, Nord Anglia Education, and 58.com
  • Acting for the liquidators of the multi-billion dollar Kingate Funds, the funds being the second largest investors into Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities LLC
  • Acting on the privatisation of Nirvana Asia, being the first ever take private transaction from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange completed by a private equity firm

Qualifications and Admissions

  • Registered Foreign Lawyer, Hong Kong (2015)
  • Admitted in the British Virgin Islands (2012)
  • Admitted in the Cayman Islands (2008)
  • Admitted in England and Wales (2007, currently non-practising)
  • Admitted in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia (2003, currently non-practising)

Prior Career History

  • Mourant, Hong Kong and BVI
  • Ogier, Cayman Islands
  • Court of Appeal, London
  • Tucker & Cowen, Brisbane

Professional Associations

  • The American Bankruptcy Institute
  • INSOL International
  • Recovery and Insolvency Specialists Association in the Cayman Islands and BVI
  • Restructuring and Insolvency Faculty, Hong Kong Institute of CPAs.

Recognition and Awards

“He is clever and quick, and a pleasure to deal with” – Chambers and Partners Asia-Pacific, 2021

“Excellent” – Legal 500 Asia Pacific – 2021

“Is superb to deal with and is now one of the go-to lawyers in Hong Kong” – Chambers and Partners Asia-Pacific, 2020

“Shaun Folpp heads the litigation and restructuring and insolvency practice in Asia. He possesses significant experience in insolvency matters as well as general commercial litigation”  – Chambers Global, 2019

“Leading Lawyer” – IFLR, 2015 – 2020

Shaun Folpp earns widespread plaudits from clients, who say: ‘He’s strong technically, and very good on his feet in court’. One interviewee added: ‘He’s also able to break down complex legal issues into simple language” – Chambers Global, 2015

“Peers note that his attention to detail is immaculate, and his handling of clients is even better, as is his knowledge of the law and tactics” – Chambers Global, 2014

“A very sound lawyer, who has a good feel for the commercial realities of cases” – Legal 500, 2014

Folpp is noted by clients for his strong business sense: ‘He’s bright and he’s a good lawyer and has a lot of commercial common sense, he doesn’t waste time fighting points that don’t matter” – IFLR 1000, 2014

Publications and News

Client Advisories