Tiang & Partners wins “Innovation in Enabling Business Growth” award from Financial Times

Hong Kong, 17 May 2022 - Tiang & Partners is pleased to announce that it is the winner of the “Innovation in Enabling Business Growth” category at the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific Awards 2022. The award was granted on 12 May 2022 for the establishment of Global Shipping Business Network (“GSBN”), an innovative project which has increased digitisation of the global logistics industry.

The FT Innovative Lawyer Awards recognise law firms, in-house legal teams and individuals who are digitally advanced and using innovative approaches to deliver exceptional value to business and society.  The Tiang & Partners team advised on numerous complex legal and regulatory issues throughout the project.  Their expertise and resourceful approach to problem solving allowed GSBN to successfully navigate highly complicated global antitrust regulations, with approvals expedited in multiple jurisdictions.

The Tiang & Partners team worked in close collaboration throughout the term of the project with PwC teams in multiple territories, including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Australia.  The PwC teams project managed the matter and their consulting, tax and technology professionals advised GSBN on all commercial and technical aspects of the project.  The highly collaborative working approach between the Tiang & Partners and PwC teams enabled GSBN to achieve its ambition of effecting industry change by upgrading the logistics supply chain using blockchain technology.

Tiang & Partners’ project team was led by Martyn Huckerby, Head of Competition Law, Asia Pacific at Tiang & Partners and Competition Law & Antitrust Leader of the PwC Global Legal Network. Other team members included Martin Robertson (Partner), Nicholas Cook (Counsel), Felix Chan (Senior Solicitor) and Sally Chen (Solicitor).

Commenting on the win, Martyn Huckerby said, “We are extremely honoured to have been recognised for our work supporting the establishment of GSBN and offering comprehensive innovative legal solutions to accelerate the digital transformation of the shipping industry. Given the number of global participants in the GSBN, this was one of the most significant competition law matters globally in the last few years. I would like to thank our clients for their trust throughout the journey, and all other teams and firms involved in this complex project.”

FT Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific 2022 is a rankings report and awards for lawyers based in the Asia-Pacific region. The 2022 report highlights the firms and in-house teams who are digitally advanced and using innovative approaches to deliver exceptional value to business and society. The report will also highlight outstanding leaders and individuals bringing innovation to the practice of law. Full list of winners can be found here.

Feature of the project by the FT can be found here.

The GSBN Project has also been featured by the PwC Global Legal Network webpage, link here.

Notes to editors

About Global Shipping Business Network Limited (GSBN)

Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) is a data exchange platform established on a not-for-profit basis. Its shareholders are comprised of major global Carriers and Terminal Operators. Its mission is to enable and to accelerate the digital transformation of the global shipping industry by providing an end to end, secure, digital collaboration platform leveraging blockchain technology to share verified logistics and cargo data to benefit all stakeholders involved in global trade. Here to simplify trade for all.

For more information please visit www.gsbn.trade.