Hon. Chairman – Advisory Council

Malcolm Barnett is one of the HKSAR’s most experienced and influential lawyers, having specialised in all aspects of banking, company and commercial law, intellectual property, media and telecommunications.

Initially in private practice with Johnson, Stokes & Master, he was in 1971 head-hunted by HSBC to join their in-house team. His career as legal adviser over the next 24 years spanned HSBC’s remarkable growth both organically and through acquisitions from a Far-Eastern bank to the leading global financial services organisation that exists today. In 1993, following the HSBC/Midland Bank merger, he moved to the new Headquarters in London to set up and direct legal and regulatory risk avoidance systems for the Group’s operations in 76 countries and travelled extensively as an ambassador for HSBC with Central Banks around the world. At the end of 1995 he retired from HSBC and returned to Hong Kong.

Being an active member of the business and professional community in Hong Kong, he has served on numerous Governmental and other bodies including the Standing Committee on Company Law Reform, the Law Reform Sub-Committees on Copyright and Fraud, the Basic Law Consultative Committee of Hong Kong and as Chairman of the HK General Chamber of Commerce Legal Committee. He is still actively involved on the Executive Committee of the Business and Professionals Federation of Hong Kong and in the adjudication of cases brought before the Insider Dealing and Market Misconduct Tribunals.

Since retirement, Malcolm Barnett has devoted himself to a series of charitable projects including copyright protection for local composers and lyric writers as Chairman, Consultant and finally Honorary Life President of the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong Limited; art appreciation as President of the Oriental Ceramic Society in which capacity he devised, and presented a major exhibition entitled “Art & Imitation in China” as a showcase for rare and valuable artifacts spanning 3000 years of Chinese history; and most recently in setting up the Young Asian Musician Awards, a major competition for talented young musicians from all parts of Asia that is to be inaugurated in 2010.

As an Honorary Advisor to Hong Kong’s Peace International Foundation his drive, enthusiasm, and professional expertise are greatly valued.

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