Clifford Chance: A Fixture on Hong Kong’s IPO Counsel Lists / 高伟绅（Clifford Chance）：港股新股名单上的常驻者

On 15 October 2026, Shenzhen-based Transsion Holdings listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising about US$390 million. Counsel to the sole sponsor, CITIC Securities, and to the underwriters on Hong Kong and US law was the British firm Clifford Chance LLP.

2026 年 10 月 15 日，深圳传音控股在港交所主板挂牌，募资约 3.9 亿美元。担任独家保荐人中信证券及承销商的中国香港与美国法法律顾问的，是英国律所高伟绅（Clifford Chance LLP）。

Clifford Chance opened its Hong Kong office in 1980 — forty-six years before that listing. Through those forty-six years the mainland companies coming to list in Hong Kong changed batch after batch; the firm is still on the counsel lists for Hong Kong offerings.

高伟绅的中国香港办公室设于 1980 年，比传音控股这次挂牌早四十六年。四十六年间赴港上市的内地企业换了一批又一批，港股发行的法律顾问名单上仍有它。

01  A single, fully integrated global partnership

01  完全一体化的全球合伙

In 1987, the London firms Clifford Turner and Coward Chance merged, and that merger is the starting point of today’s Clifford Chance. In its own commemorative publications the firm calls it the first large-scale merger inside the Magic Circle (the collective name for London’s five old commercial law firms). On 1 January 2000 it completed a three-way merger with Germany’s Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster and New York’s Rogers & Wells, bringing German and US law capability into one firm.

1987 年，伦敦的 Clifford Turner 与 Coward Chance 合并，构成今天高伟绅的起点；该所在自己的纪念出版物里，把这次合并称作魔术圈（伦敦五家老牌商业律所的合称）内部的第一次大规模合并。2000 年 1 月 1 日，它又与德国的 Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster 及纽约的 Rogers & Wells 完成三方合并，德国法与美国法的执业能力由此归入同一个所。

It now has 34 offices and more than 2,800 lawyers in 22 countries, organised around 12 global product lines; in the financial year ended 30 April 2026, global revenue was £2.6 billion, up 9 per cent year on year.

目前它在 22 个国家设有 34 个办公室、2,800 多名律师，业务按 12 条全球产品线组织；截至 2026 年 4 月 30 日的财年，全球营收 26 亿英镑，同比增长 9%。

The legal advice a single transaction needs often comes from more than one jurisdiction. Putting lawyers from different countries onto one project means first settling how they divide the fee — a problem no firm of this size can avoid. Clifford Chance’s answer is that its offices do not each incorporate: they all belong to one English limited liability partnership, Clifford Chance LLP.

一笔交易要用到的法律意见，往往不止来自一个法域。要让不同国家的律师进同一个项目，得先解决他们之间怎么分账——做到这个体量的律所都绕不开这个问题。高伟绅的解决办法，是让各地办公室不各自成立法人，而是同属一家英国有限责任合伙——Clifford Chance LLP。

Its own description is a “single, fully integrated global partnership”; it publishes an audited summary of consolidated financial statements under IFRS every year; equity partners share in firm-wide profit, with no guaranteed income. The effect in practice is plain to see: when one office wins work that needs lawyers from another jurisdiction, neither side has to work out first how that revenue is to be split. The US business sits outside that entity and practises as Clifford Chance US LLP.

它对自己的表述是“单一、完全一体化的全球合伙”，每年按国际财务报告准则公布经审计的合并财务报表摘要；权益合伙人按全所利润分红，没有保底收入。落到具体业务上，效果是一目了然的：一间办公室接下一笔业务，需要别的法域的律师加入时，两边不必先算清这笔收入该怎么分。美国业务不在这个法人之内，以 Clifford Chance US LLP 的名义执业。

02  One boundary, two places of work

02  一道边界，两地分工

Clifford Chance opened an office in Hong Kong, China in 1980. In 1985 it moved into Beijing, among the first batch of international firms to open an office there; in 1993 it opened in Shanghai.

1980 年，高伟绅在中国香港设办公室；1985 年进北京，成为最早一批在北京设办公室的国际律所之一；1993 年，它设上海办公室。

The Regulations on the Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign Law Firms in China confine the business of such representative offices to a list that excludes Chinese legal affairs, and bar them from employing Chinese practising lawyers. Clifford Chance keeps the two apart: its Beijing and Shanghai representative offices handle client and project liaison, while Chinese law opinions are issued by Chinese firms. Its cooperation with mainland peers has a further layer: in 2025, with the approval of the Shanghai Municipal Justice Bureau, it set up a joint operation office in the Shanghai free trade zone with the Shanghai Heping Law Firm.

《外国律师事务所驻华代表机构管理条例》把这类驻华代表处的业务限定在一份不含中国法律事务的清单内，并规定不得聘用中国执业律师。高伟绅的做法是把两件事分开：北京、上海的代表处负责客户与项目的对接，中国法意见由中国律所出具。它与内地同行的合作另有一层：2025 年经上海市司法局批准，高伟绅与上海市和平律师事务所在上海自贸区设立了联营办公室。

Its Hong Kong office now has more than 150 lawyers. In China Tower’s US$6.9 billion Hong Kong listing in 2018, Clifford Chance advised the joint sponsors, China International Capital Corporation and Goldman Sachs; in October 2025, on Sany Heavy Industry’s H-share IPO of more than US$1.7 billion, it was international counsel; on Transsion’s offering of about US$390 million in October 2026, its client was the sole sponsor and the underwriters.

目前高伟绅的中国香港办公室有 150 多名律师。2018 年中国铁塔 69 亿美元的港股上市中，高伟绅是联席保荐人中国国际金融公司与高盛的法律顾问；2025 年 10 月三一重工逾 17 亿美元的 H 股 IPO，它任国际法律顾问；2026 年 10 月传音控股约 3.9 亿美元的那笔发行，它的委托方是独家保荐人与承销商。

Three transactions eight years apart, and the division of work has not changed: Chinese law opinions come from Chinese firms, Hong Kong and US law opinions from Clifford Chance. What the two places contribute is not the same — the mainland side supplies client relationships and deal flow, Hong Kong supplies the foreign-law advice the offering document requires.

三笔交易相隔八年，分工方式没有变化：中国法意见由中国的律所出具，中国香港法与美国法意见由高伟绅承担。两地贡献的东西并不相同——内地一侧提供客户关系与项目来源，中国香港一侧提供这份发行文件所必需的那部分外国法意见。

03  Three conditions, holding at once

03  同时成立的三条

Clifford Chance holds its present position because three conditions hold at the same time.

高伟绅走到今天这个位置，靠的是三条同时成立的条件。

Time. Its Hong Kong office dates from 1980, before Hong Kong became the main channel for mainland companies raising capital offshore; its Beijing and Shanghai offices were also set up ahead of most international peers.

时间上，它的中国香港办公室设于 1980 年，早于港股成为内地企业境外融资的主通道；北京、上海的设置也排在多数国际同行之前。

Organisation. A single English partnership and a single profit pool let lawyers from different countries onto one project: where a deal needs both Hong Kong and US law advice, the two teams each deliver their part without first negotiating a split between the two offices. The US business practises as Clifford Chance US LLP, and it is from that entity that the US law opinions in such offerings come.

组织上，单一英国合伙与单一利润池让不同国家的律师可以进同一个项目：一笔交易需要中国香港法意见与美国法意见，两地团队各出一份，不必先在这两间办公室之间谈分成。美国业务以 Clifford Chance US LLP 的名义执业，这类发行里的美国法意见就出自它。

Standing. The measure of a foreign firm’s weight in China is how often it appears on the counsel lists of offshore offerings; that is a more reliable measure than headcount in its mainland representative offices. Clifford Chance’s frequency can be checked against public data: in Hong Kong’s new listings in the first half of 2026 it acted as Hong Kong law counsel to the issuer in 11 deals, first among all firms, and as counsel to the sponsor in 9, second. China Tower, Sany and Transsion — three transactions eight years apart — are only three cross-sections of that list; the issuers changed batch after batch over those eight years, and Clifford Chance stayed on it.

席位上，判断一家外资律所在中国的分量，看的是它在离岸发行的法律顾问名单上出现的频率，比看内地代表处的人数可靠。高伟绅的频率有公开数据可查：2026 年上半年中国香港新股上市，它担任发行人一方的中国香港法律顾问 11 单，居所有律所之首；担任保荐人一方的 9 单，居次席。中国铁塔、三一重工、传音控股这三笔相隔八年的交易，只是这份名单上的三个截面；八年间发行人换了一批又一批，高伟绅一直留在榜上。

After the Transsion offering, its position is unchanged. So long as mainland companies keep concentrating their offshore fundraising on the offshore market, the division will hold: representative offices on the mainland for client liaison, the Hong Kong office for the foreign-law advice the offering document requires. What would rewrite that division is a loosening of the practice boundary, not the advance or retreat of any single firm.

传音控股这笔发行之后，高伟绅的位置没有变化。内地企业的境外融资只要继续向离岸市场集中，代表处留在内地对接客户、中国香港办公室承接发行文件上那部分外国法意见的分工就会继续；会改写这个分工的是执业边界的松动，不是哪一家所的进退。