Financial Law and Regulation Seminars:Transnational Legal Exchange in Commerce: Hong Kong and Singapore 

This event is organised by the Asian Institute of International Financial Law and Centre for Private Law, The University of Hong Kong.

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Globally, there is an escalating intensity of transnational legal exchanges (TLE) in the commercial domain, as states explore modes of collaboration notwithstanding political, economic, and cultural uncertainty. This is best exemplified in the seemingly paradoxical TLE between two of Asia’s leading commercial hubs — Hong Kong and Singapore — where TLE continues to deepen despite intensifying competition.

This exchange manifests across four key dimensions. First, judges in both jurisdictions routinely reference each other’s precedents, particularly in commercial and insolvency litigation. Second, the same judges actively pursue judicial diplomacy through mutual court visits, the formation of transnational judicial networks, and bilateral judicial cooperation. Third, legal practitioners from Hong Kong and Singapore frequently cross borders to deliver lectures and seminars, facilitating knowledge dissemination and bolstering regional professional bonds. Fourth, scholars in these two jurisdictions produce a wealth of comparative analyses of each other’s legal frameworks.

This seminar explores the precise contours of such commercial TLE and advances tentative hypotheses regarding the drivers behind these practices.

About the Speaker

Aaron Yoong is an Assistant Professor of Law at the Singapore Management University. His work focuses on tort law and international law; exploring the interface between doctrinal clarity and transnational complexity, particularly in cross-border liability, enforcement, and comparative reasoning. His scholarship has been published in journals such as Arbitration International and Tort Law Review, cited by the Singapore courts, and presented at forums such as the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices Meeting. He is also appointed as rapporteur to the International Congress of Comparative Law, contributes to developments with the Ministry of Law, and has provided views in parliamentary law reform.

Aaron also maintains a broad commercial litigation, arbitration and advisory practice. He is regularly instructed on complex commercial matters concerning jurisdictional challenges, enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards, and the strategic resolution of transnational disputes. He holds an LL.M. from Harvard Law School and graduated summa cum laude from SMU.

Chair: Trevor T.W. Wan, Assistant Professor, HKU Faculty of Law

For inquiries, please contact Ms. Candy Ip at aiiflhku@hku.hk.