Matthew Gearing QC is Global Co-Head of the International Arbitration Group and a partner of the Hong Kong office. He is widely regarded as a leading arbitration practitioner; in particular he was appointed Queen's Counsel (England & Wales) in February 2014 and appointed Chairperson of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre in 2016.

Matthew has acted in a large number of complex and high profile arbitrations around the world, both commercial arbitrations and investment treaty arbitrations. His experience includes arbitrations under the ICC, UNCITRAL, SIAC, HKIAC, KLRCA, SCC, LCIA and ICSID Rules. The subject matter of the disputes has related to joint venture agreements, manufacturing and high technology sectors, disputes relating to complex financial products, and a wide range of disputes in the energy and resources sector.

Sarah Grimmer is Secretary-General of Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre. She was formerly Senior Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) where she acted as registrar in several inter-State arbitrations under the Law of the Sea Convention and served as tribunal secretary in multiple investment treaty arbitrations and contract-based claims.

Prior to joining the PCA, Sarah served as Assistant Counsel at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris. She was also a member of the international arbitration group at Shearman & Sterling LLP in Paris, prior to which she worked in private practice in Auckland.

In 2015, Sarah was appointed to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Disciplinary Board. She is a member of the ICCA-ASIL Task Force on Damages (2016), ICCA Publications Committee (2015), the IBA Investment Arbitration Subcommittee (2014), New Zealand ICC Arbitration Committee (2014), and the IBA Arb40 Steering Committee (2013).

John is the Partner leading Control Risks' Asia Pacific practices for crisis response and recovery, cyber security, business protection and resilience solutions. John leads a team which specialises in crisis management and critical incident response, business continuity, strategic security and operational risk consulting, cyber and information security, security staffing support and protective services.

John has particular experience in advising companies how to successfully manage challenging political and regulatory environments, compliance and security issues. He is retained by clients to develop and execute strategic responses to crises and disputes, complex governance, operational risk and compliance reviews. John is one of the region’s leading experts in responding to regulatory investigations and in commercial and labour disputes.

John has extensive experience developing and implementing crisis management plans and has worked with senior executive management teams in the technologies, food and fast-moving consumer goods, finance, heavy manufacturing, healthcare and resource sectors.