After a longer-than-expected wait of a year and a half, and more than five years of consideration, third-party funding of arbitration is now permitted in Hong Kong.

On Feb. 1, long-awaited amendments to an arbitration ordinance which expressly permits third parties to fund the cost of arbitrations seated in Hong Kong took effect. The ordinance was first passed by the city’s legislative council in June 2017, but some key provisions could not take effect until a code of practice for third-party funders was issued. The Hong Kong Department of Justice issued the code in December.