Shaun Wu

Shaun Wu is Chair of Paul Hastings’s Litigation Department in Hong Kong and China, and the Asia Head of Investigations and White Collar Defense. He is one of Asia’s leading lawyers for corporate investigations, government enforcement, regulatory compliance, international arbitration, and dispute resolution. Shaun leads a team of litigation lawyers across the firm’s Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing offices. His award-winning work and insights have been featured on The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, CNBC, and other top-tier media.

Shaun represents financial institutions, asset management firms, and multinational corporations in matters involving Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, India, Singapore, and Southeast Asia. As a U.S./U.K. practicing lawyer, he focuses on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), fraud, misconduct, bribery, corruption, sanctions, trade controls, cybersecurity, data protection, securities enforcement, and other regulatory issues. Shaun often acts for boards of directors, audit committees, independent committees, and special committees in allegations of fraud and financial irregularities, including revenue recognition and falsified transactions. He advises clients facing inquiries from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and local regulatory authorities in Asia. Shaun is one of the only Asia-based individuals appointed as the Independent Monitor for the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to assess compliance by sanctioned companies following debarment for fraud or integrity violations.

As an advisor, Shaun works with boards of directors and C-suite management on global risk assessment, strategy planning, and corporate governance, including Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and sustainability issues. He advises on crisis management, risk identification and mitigation, internal controls, remediation measures, reporting frameworks, transaction testing, and compliance due diligence for investments and acquisitions. Many of Shaun’s matters involve technology, media and telecommunications (TMT), life sciences and healthcare, financial services, fintech, energy and project infrastructure, asset management, private equity, and venture capital.

Shaun acts as lead counsel, advocate, and strategist in a wide range of international arbitration and international dispute resolution matters, often involving governments, state-owned enterprises, and multinational corporations in Asia. He has advised clients in international arbitration under the UNCITRAL, HKIAC, SIAC, ICC, LCIA, CIETAC, KCAB, JCAA, and other arbitral rules, seated in Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Paris, Beijing, Shanghai, and other arbitral seats, governed by a range of applicable laws. Many of these disputes arise out of investment agreements, sale and purchase contracts, financing arrangements, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions. Shaun is an Advisory Board member of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) and has previously been admitted to the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators (HKIArb). As lead counsel, he often coordinates cross-border proceedings across Asia, U.S., U.K., and offshore jurisdictions including the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands.

Shaun has been ranked by Chambers Global and Chambers Greater China for the past eight years from 2018. He is named a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific and has been recognized since 2017. Shaun is featured in “The A-List: Growth Drivers (International)” by China Business Law Journal as a key player at the forefront of the market. His team won The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” and his practice was profiled in The Financial Times Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers Report as “Standout” for facilitating global business. Shaun is recommended by Doyle’s Guide as one of the leading white collar crime, corporate crime and regulatory investigations lawyers. He is recognized by Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal) in Investigations: Future Leaders – Partners as “likely to be the pre-eminent names” of his generation. In association with The American Lawyer, The Asian Lawyer, and Legal Week, China Law & Practice Awards honored Shaun with individual awards for Regulatory & Compliance and Dispute Resolution: Arbitration.