HKIAC 2022 statistics

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Authored by: Carmen Ng

The HKIAC has published its statistics for 2022, which reveal that in 2022 it received a record number of arbitration filings (the highest number received in over a decade).

The following are some of the more notable statistics:

• No. of arbitrations: 515 cases were submitted to the HKIAC in 2022. Of those, 344 were arbitration filings (as compared to 277 in 2021), 161 were domain name disputes (as compared to 225 in 2021) and 10 were mediations (as compared to 12 in 2021). 

• Rules: Of the 344 arbitrations, 256 were administered by the HKIAC under rules, including the HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules and the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.

• International: 83.1% of all arbitrations submitted to the HKIAC in 2022 were international in nature i.e. at least one party was not from Hong Kong. 93.4% of the administered arbitrations commenced in 2022 were international cases.

• Amount in dispute: The total amount in dispute across all arbitrations was HK$43.1 billion.  The total amount in dispute in all administered cases was HK$36.7 billion and the average amount in dispute in administered arbitrations was HK$180.6 million.

• Seat of arbitration: The vast majority of arbitrations (97.7%) were seated in Hong Kong. In the remaining arbitrations, the seat was England & Wales or not specified.

• Governing laws: Disputes referred to the HKIAC in 2022 were subject to 16 different governing laws, with Hong Kong law being the most commonly selected governing law, followed by English law and then Jersey law.

• Types of dispute: The most common types of dispute were banking and financial services (36.9%), corporate (17.7%), international trade/sale of goods (14%), maritime (12.5%) and construction (9.9%).

• Challenges to arbitrators: 11 challenges to arbitrators were submitted to the HKIAC in 2022, 1 of which was dismissed, 1 resulted in resignation of the challenged arbitrator and 9 are pending.

• Multi-party or multi-contract arbitration, joinder and consolidation: Of the 344 arbitration filings in 2022, 183 involved multiple parties/ contracts.  In 26 of those cases, a single arbitration was commenced under multiple contracts.  The HKIAC received 10 requests for consolidation, 8 of which were granted and 2 rejected.  12 requests for joinder of additional parties were submitted to the HKIAC or arbitral tribunals, 9 of which were granted, 1 rejected and 2 are pending.

• Interim Measures Arrangement: A steadily growing number of parties made applications under the Hong Kong-Mainland China Arrangement on interim measures.  In 2022, the HKIAC processed 26 applications to 14 different Mainland Chinese courts under the Arrangement, seeking to preserve evidence, assets or conduct, worth a total of RMB7.6 billion in Mainland China.  In respect of those applications, the Mainland courts issued orders to preserve RMB1.26 billion worth of assets.  Approximately 17.2% of the applications were made by parties from Mainland China and 82.8% by parties from Hong Kong, Singapore, Cayman Islands, Germany, Australia and the BVI.  Approximately 68.9% of the applications concerned assets owned by Mainland Chinese parties and 31.1% concerned assets or evidence owned by non-Mainland parties.  Since the Interim Measures Arrangement came into force on 1 October 2019, the HKIAC has processed 86 applications.  81 applications were made for the preservation of assets, 2 for the preservation of evidence, and 3 for the preservation of conduct.  The total value of assets requested to be preserved amounted to RMB22.9 billion.  As of the end of 2022, the HKIAC is aware of 58 decisions issued by Mainland Courts. Of those, 54 granted the applications for preservation of assets upon the applicant’s provision of security and 4 rejected such application.  The total value of assets preserved by the 54 decisions amounted to RMB14.5 billion.

• Emergency arbitrator applications: 1 emergency arbitrator application was submitted to the HKIAC in 2022.  The total number of emergency arbitrator applications filed with the HKIAC as at the end of 2022 is 32.

• Expedited procedure: 20 applications for the expedited procedure were submitted to the HKIAC in 2022, 16 of which were granted and 4 rejected.

• Early determination procedure: 2 applications for the early determination procedure were submitted to arbitral tribunals in 2022.

• Third party funding: Parties made disclosures of third party funding in 73 arbitrations administered by HKIAC under the 2018 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules and 1 arbitration administered by HKIAC under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules in 2022.

• Virtual hearings: In 2022, the HKIAC hosted a total of 93 hearings, of which 75 were fully or partially virtual and 18 in person at the HKIAC’s premises in Hong Kong.

Key Contacts

Carmen Ng

Partner | Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Email or call +852 2825 9502