Naidong Ma

Practice Areas

Naidong (Michael) Ma specialises in handling disputes involving ultra-high-net-worth families/family businesses, both domestically and internationally. This includes divorce disputes and inheritance disputes among the first or second generation in the family, and the commercial, administrative, and criminal disputes arising from the family disputes. Additionally, he focuses on providing legal services for wealth protection and estate planning in a global context.

Professional Memberships

Michael Ma is the Senior Partner of Dacheng Shanghai Office, Fellow member of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL), TEP member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).

Publications

"Exploring Legal Risks in Equity Inheritance Litigation: The Battle for Corporate Control," Chambers and Partners Family Law 2024: Trends and Developments, May 29, 2024

"Exploring the Legal Risks Regarding the Fabrication of Evidence in Civil Litigation (I)," Wolters Kluwer, April 18, 2024

"Interpretation of the Judicial Interpretation of the Law Applicable to Foreign Civil Relations Law II," Wolters Kluwer, December 4, 2023

"Research on Cross-Legal Issues of Marriage and Family Cases Involving Securities Crimes," Official Account of Dacheng Law Firm, July 2023

"Legal Risks in Equity Inheritance Litigation," Wolters Kluwer, April 2022 (series of articles in electronic version on Wolters Kluwer)

"Exploring the Legal Implications of Chinese Citizens Acquiring Foreign Nationality," Official Account of Dacheng Law Firm, May 15, 2023

"Top Ten Highlights of Marriage and Family Matters in the Civil Code," Zhihe, May 28, 2020

"Is It Valid to Make a Will Abroad to Pass on Wealth in China?," Zhihe, March 22, 2019

Work Highlights

Litigation: Family Law

1. In 2023, Michael represented the actual controller of a listed company in a divorce dispute. The key disputes in this case revolved around the actual control of the listed company, and also involved the revocation of gifting clause in the nuptial agreements, and disputes regarding the termination of stock transfer agreements signed by one spouse with a third party during the marriage.

2. In 2023, Michael represented the spouse of a major shareholder of a domestic new materials company in a divorce dispute. The dispute not only involved civil legal issues such as the transfer of marital joint property and asset entrustment, but also administrative and criminal legal issues related to capital market regulation and taxation.

3. In 2021, Michael represented the spouse of the actual controller of a pre-IPO company (which had already delisted from a foreign stock exchange) in a property dispute after divorce.

4. In 2020, Michael represented one of the heirs of the actual controller of a group in a series of commercial and criminal disputes related to statutory inheritance and corporate control disputes triggered by the accidental death of the actual controller. Due to the complexity of the actual controller's family tree as well as the asset structure, conflicts among shareholders intensified over time.

5. In 2019, Michael represented the spouse of the actual controller of a real estate group in a divorce case. The complexity of this case revolved around the validity of pre-nuptial agreement and asset entrustment, forum shopping and parallel litigation in different jurisdictions.

6. In 2018, Michael represented the spouse of the actual controller of a foreign trade group in a divorce case. The disputed assets in this case were located in various regions.

7. In 2016, Michael represented Li, the spouse of Rao, the actual controller of a Shenzhen Stock Exchange-listed company, in a series of disputes related to bigamy (two domestic litigations and one arbitration, and two litigations in Canada).

Litigation: Company Law Related

1. In 2020, Michael cooperated with a well-known law firm in the Bahamas in handling disputes over corporate control between the operating entity in mainland China and the holding company registered in Bahamas.

2. In 2019, Michael represented the founder in the dispute over corporate control against the family members of the actual controller. The dispute originated from the sudden death of the actual controller and involved allegations of embezzlement, disputes over the transfer of equity, whether the client has harmed the company/shareholders' interests (already adjudicated in a retrial by the Supreme Court), and the company's compulsory dissolution and liquidation.

Non-Litigation Matters

1. In 2023, Michael led lawyers from Singapore and Hong Kong to provide estate planning for the client. This case involves three main challenges: (1) significant difference of marital property regime under different jurisdictions; (2) determination of the application of law regarding the will; (3) execution of wills and probate considering the relevant regulations.

2. In 2021, Michael represented a major shareholder of an overseas listed Chinese concept stock. Michael made meticulous arrangements for a prenuptial agreement based on the Chinese Civil Code and relevant rules of local precedents regarding the listed company shares held through a family trust.

Expert Witness

1. In 2018, due to a lawsuit in Australia where the plaintiff requested the Australian court to issue a court order prohibiting the defendant from taking legal measures in mainland China, both parties in the Australian litigation jointly commissioned an expert opinion written by Michael from the Australian Family Court on the relevant legal issues concerning property disputes after cross-border divorce between China and Australia.

Industry Sector Expertise

(1) The legal issues that Michael has dealt with in previous family law dispute cases include:

- Global due diligence on marital assets

- Procedural disputes

o Forum shopping and parallel litigation in different jurisdictions with different adjudication rules and conflicts of interregional laws.

o Jurisdictional disputes in Chinese courts after a Chinese citizen acquires foreign citizenship.

o Jurisdictional disputes in Chinese courts over damages to offshore company shareholders' interests following divorce.

o Jurisdictional disputes in the equity inheritance cases and divorce cases.

o Recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments by Chinese courts.

- Substantive disputes

o Determination of equity entrustment relationships in different jurisdictions.

o Validity of prenuptial and nuptial agreements in different jurisdictions.

o Disputes regarding the revocability of premarital property gifted to spouses based on marital property agreements.

o Disputes over the revocation of divorce agreements reached through fraud.

o Disputes over the effectiveness of asset transfers from one spouse to direct relatives or third parties during periods of deteriorating relationships.

o Disputes over the eligibility of heirs.

o Disputes over the scope of heirs and beneficiaries.

- Expert opinions

o Providing expert opinions on Chinese law to foreign family courts.

o Testifying as an expert witness in foreign family courts.

(2) In the field of corporate law, Michael has extensive experience in representing a series of commercial disputes that arise after the sudden death of the actual controller of a company, including internal conflicts over control rights among family members and external conflicts between family members and other shareholders of the company. The legal issues include:

- Disputes over the holder of company licences, seals, and financial records after the death of the company's legal representative.

- Disputes over the corporate will after the death of the legal representative.

- Disputes over the effectiveness of shareholder meetings and board resolutions after the chairman's death.

- Disputes over the infringement of company/shareholder interests after the death of a major shareholder or the actual controller.

- Disputes over control rights between offshore holding company shareholders of domestic entities.

(3) In the field of administrative and criminal compliance, Michael has been involved in handling multiple administrative and criminal legal disputes arising from family conflicts, including:

- Administrative legal disputes

o Tax evasion.

o Administrative violations in the securities field.

- Criminal legal disputes

o Embezzlement.

o Misappropriation of funds.

o False Issuance of Invoices.

o False Issuance of Special Invoices for Value-added Tax.

(4) In the field of private wealth management, Michael is not only experienced in making up after the crisis emerges, but also strongly believing in taking proactive measures, and leads professional institutions as well as individuals at home and abroad to provide comprehensive, accurate, and personalised wealth protection and estate planning services to clients, including:

- Pre-marital and marital property planning with cross-border and inheritance perspectives.

- Will Planning.

o Choice of law for wills.

o Serving as executor of wills.

- Equity inheritance arrangement planning.

o Corporate restructuring.

o Drafting company articles of associations.

o Advising on compliance and corporate governance.

- Providing legal advice on family trusts.

- Arrangement of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) Guardianship System.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

China

Languages Spoken

Mandarin, English

Education

Awards