23 December 2020
HKIAC is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to its Council. Upon the recommendation of HKIAC’s Nominations Committee, the HKIAC Council approved the appointment of Byung-Woo Im (Partner at Kim & Chang), Maria Tan Pedersen (Partner at Dechert), and Thomas Walsh (Partner at Clifford Chance) as Council Members.
As a senior arbitration partner at Kim & Chang in Seoul, Byung-Woo Im has extensive experience representing Korean and foreign clients in international commercial arbitration cases, and advises on contentious and non-contentious matters in all stages of infrastructure and construction projects.
Byung-Woo has this to say: “Korean businesses play an important role globally in the infrastructure and construction sectors amongst others. It is important for users to understand the dispute resolution options available to them. I look forward to furthering HKIAC’s efforts to service the Korean arbitration community and wider construction community, and to working with HKIAC’s Seoul office.”
Maria Tan Pedersen is a transactional partner at Dechert in Singapore with a practice focused on international and domestic corporate M&A, joint ventures, projects, capital markets and financing transactions, as well as cross-border disputes. She is also a member of HKIAC’s Belt and Road Advisory Committee.
Maria has this to say: “We’re seeing a marked increase in new cross-border, multi-jurisdictional transactions and M&A clients at Dechert. And with many of those companies expressing an interest in alternative dispute resolution, I’m keen to share their needs and preferences with the HKIAC to help maintain its role as a leading global arbitral institution, and support its efforts to make end-users more aware of the cost- and time-saving tools and measures it offers to secure assets and enforce awards.”
Thomas Walsh is a partner at Clifford Chance in Hong Kong specialising in private equity and fund related disputes as well as the energy and aviation sectors. He is the head of the firm’s Korean disputes practice and a senior member of its Greater China practice. In addition to joining HKIAC’s Council, Thomas is also a member of HKIAC’s Appointments Committee.
Thomas has this to say: “As someone who regularly advises clients with HKIAC arbitration clauses in their agreements and represents clients in disputes across the region under various rules, I am very pleased to join the HKIAC Council and Appointments Committee to give a corporate and industry perspective. Even from my initial days as a member of the HKIAC Appointments Committee, it is apparent as to the extensive work which goes into the appointment process from the HKIAC Secretariat. Of particular interest to me is the focus on the widening and diversifying of the pool of arbitrators in APAC.”
On the appointments, David W. Rivkin, HKIAC Co-chair, says: “We are delighted to welcome Byung-Woo, Maria and Thomas to Council, each with valuable and diverse experience in sectors and jurisdictions relevant to HKIAC’s work.”
Rimsky Yuen, GBM, SC, JP, HKIAC Co-chair, says: “We look forward to working with our new Council Members to continue to develop HKIAC services and initiatives to ensure they remain relevant to our end-users.”
Thomas Walsh was appointed in September 2020, and Byung-Woo Im and Maria Tan Pedersen were appointed in October 2020.
The Council is HKIAC’s principal governing body that is responsible for the corporate governance and overall management of HKIAC. With the addition of the new Council Members, the HKIAC Council is presently composed of 24 members who are practitioners, in-house counsel, academics, arbitrators, judges and non-legal professionals. A full list of the current HKIAC Council Members is available here.
