Hong Kong Rule on Multi City/ Multi Country competition
“In order to prevent competition between offices of members and to respect and protect the exclusivity principles of FraudNet which form part of its core value to members, the Standards & Procedures Committee shall keep under constant review the expansion of the firm of any member firm (the “Expanding Member Firm”) into countries, regions or cities where existing members operate.
In determining whether there is direct conflict between any member and an Expanding Member Firm, the Committee will look at each Expanding Member Firm’s expansion on a case by case basis and reach an assessment using the following criteria:
Do the offices of the member and the Expanding Member Firm directly compete or have the immediate potential to compete in terms of conducting the same financial fraud or asset recovery work;
What is the likelihood that office of the member and the Expanding Member Firm refer work to the other;
What is the Expanding Member Firm’s policy with regard to allowing its shareholders/partners/members to refer work in countries, regions or cities where they have offices to lawyers outside of their firm;
What cases has the Expanding Member Firm referred to other members and what contributions have they made to the growth and development of the network;
What are the views of the member in whose city, region or country in which the issue has arisen; and
Is it otherwise in the best interests of the network to retain the member in the Expanding Member Firm as a FraudNet member despite the expansion.
The Committee shall be at liberty to seek information from the member and the Expanding Member Firm about his or her firm on this issue. A failure or refusal of an Expanding Member’s Firm to provide such information can lead to termination from the network of the member of the Expanding Member Firm.
Following its assessment, which shall be reduced to writing and circulated to the membership including the member of the Expanding Member Firm being assessed, the Standards & Procedures Committee shall make a recommendations to the membership which may include, but is not limited to, the termination of a member of the Expanding Member Firm from the network for a violation of the exclusivity principles of the network.
Any recommendation, including termination, of the Standards & Procedures Committee under this rule, shall be voted on by the membership at a regular meeting with a simple majority of the membership present at that meeting.”
Adopted by the members in Hong Kong on March 12th 2011