Wenwen Chai

Wenwen Chai is a Senior Associate of Karas So LLP. Her practice focuses on advising high net worth individuals, families and trustees on tax, stamp duty and succession planning matters.

Wenwen regularly advises high-net-worth clients on both contentious and non-contentious trust and estate matters.  Her work generally involves advising beneficiaries and/or trustees on issues and disputes arising from family trusts and cross-border estates, providing strategic wealth planning advice, assisting clients on the establishment of trusts, Hong Kong family office structures and charities.

She is also an experienced tax practitioner on both advisory and contentious Hong Kong tax matters, including advising on high-value tax audits and disputes.

Wenwen has an all-rounded commercial practice, frequently advising clients on matters involving complex company law issues both in contentious and transactional settings.

Wenwen is qualified in Hong Kong, England and Wales and Australia (New South Wales).

She is bilingual in English and Mandarin.

Key Experience

Trust and estates

• Advising a Hong Kong high-net-worth client in extensive negotiations over years regarding the distribution of trust assets held in a family trust and assets of the Hong Kong and BVI estates of his late parent. 
• Advising a PRC high-net-worth client in the pharmaceutical sector in setting up Hong Kong a family office structure in compliance with the family office tax exemption.
• Advising a PRC high-net-worth client in the technology sector on his succession planning needs, including drafting wills, establishing family trusts and charitable trusts.
• Advising a professional trustee on trust law, stamp duty and profits tax issues in reaching a settlement among the beneficiaries of the trust after years of litigation.

Tax

• Acting for an individual taxpayer in an appeal to the Board of Review (Inland Revenue Ordinance) against salaries tax assessments involving cross-border employment issues.
• Acting for a US conglomerate in a long-running Hong Kong profits tax audit concerning transfer pricing and anti-avoidance issues.

Commercial

• Advising a PRC conglomerate in disputes involving complex loan restructuring arrangements and corporate law issues.
• Advising an Indonesian company on Hong Kong company law issues arising from its acquisition of a Hong Kong entity. 
• Advising a Hong Kong recruitment firm on Hong Kong employment law issues arising from the dismissal of a senior employee.

Charity

• Advising a listed company in establishing a charitable organisation with a broad range of charitable objects carrying on a business in Hong Kong and applying for tax exemption under the Inland Revenue Ordinance.
• Advising a US based charitable organisation focusing on education of women in developing countries in establishing a local Hong Kong entity and applying for tax exemption under the Inland Revenue Ordinance.

Career History

• Senior Associate, Karas So LLP, 2022
• Associate, Baker & McKenzie, 2016
• Trainee Solicitor, Baker & McKenzie, 2014
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Postgraduate Certificate in Laws, 2014
• College of Law, Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, 2013
• Australian National University, Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Economics, 2012

Admissions

• England and Wales, 2023
• Hong Kong, Feb 2017
• New South Wales, Australia, Nov 2016

Articles and Publications

• Co-author of the article Hong Kong Wealth Management - Latest Developments published on WealthBriefingAsia (7 July 2021)
• Co-author of the Hong Kong chapter of The Inward Investment and International Taxation Review