China Law & Tax is a no-nonsense business consulting firm focusing on China, Hong Kong and Asian tax, corporate, employment and other advisory services. Ralph Ybema LLM, a Dutch national, heads this Hong Kong-based practice which offers a full service range varying from M&A, tax structuring and contract drafting support to company secretarial, admin and payroll services. China Law & Tax is a licensed Trust Services provider under the Hong Kong Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Act and clients include private equity firms, family offices, SMEs and publicly listed MNCs such as Scandinavian Tobacco Group.
For 15 years, Ralph has advised senior executives in major multinationals including Computer Sciences Corporation of the US and Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands, both with 100 000+ staff and revenues in excess of US$ 15 Billion. He has been lead counsel in a full range of cross-border commercial transactions with an individual contract value of up to US$ 350 Million, including M&A, Joint Ventures and large-scale IT contracts.
Having served as a pre- and post-IPO Board Member of Hong Kong-listed PRC “Red Chip” China Resources Microelectronics (HKEx: 0597) and Sino-Dutch Joint Venture gone public Chiho-Tiande Group (HKEx: 0976), Ralph has an inside perspective on the business affairs of both Chinese State-Owned and private Enterprises. He is an arbitrator and mediator at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and represented the corporate counsel profession on the prestigious Professional Services Advisory Committee of HKTDC – Hong Kong Trade and Development Council, then chaired by the later Hong Kong Chief Executive, CY Leung.
As founding President and now Honorary Member of ACC Hong Kong (HK Corporate Counsel Association) and founding Secretary of its Singapore equivalent, Ralph has been a frequent speaker at high profile events in Asia and beyond. Most recently he was a panel speaker at a local event alongside Hong Kong’s Chief Justice, Mr Justice Geoffrey Ma and the Lord Phillips, former Lord Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
Past engagements include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Indonesia, besides Toronto, Vancouver, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Istanbul and other locations in Europe and (by HKTDC video link) Honolulu, Orange County, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.
Although Ralph spent most of his professional career in Asia and is reasonably proficient in Putonghua, he has negotiated and drafted deals in Dutch, English, French, Italian, Spanish and German. Such a powerful set of legal language skills is rare if not unique in the Far East.