☰

Prof. Emily Lee 李香慧教授

Associate Professor

Biography

Dr Emily Lee is an Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Law and served as the Director of the Asian Institute of International Financial Law (AIIFL) from 1 July 2021 until 30 June 2025. Her research interests are in the fields of financial law, FinTech regulations and policies, corporate insolvency law, cross-border insolvency law, and comparative law. Her research work has been published by leading peer-reviewed journals such as the American Journal of Comparative Law, Law and Contemporary Problems, Journal of Corporate Law Studies, Journal of Business Law, and Common Law World Review.

Dr Lee’s research has been cited by prominent institutions and individuals, including McKinsey & Company’s McKinsey Global Institute, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s Financial Services Development Council (a high-level, cross-sectoral advisory body), a former U.S. bankruptcy judge, and academics. She is a member of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Expert Group and has actively engaged with global organisations such as the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Asian Office, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), and the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), contributing to strategic research initiatives, delivering expert presentations, and hosting discussions.

Among her significant professional services, she served as the primary discussant for the HCCH’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project, guiding discussions that informed the project’s exploratory phase and next steps. Her research on CBDCs was circulated to the HCCH Experts’ Group and featured in the HCCH’s library of audiovisual materials. Additionally, Dr Lee has provided advisory services to the Singapore Academy of Law, offering expertise in FinTech, financial law, and policy.

She acted as a referee (i.e. peer-reviewer) for Cambridge University Press and international peer reviewed journals such as the American Journal of Comparative Law, the Australian Journal of Asian Law, Journal of Corporate Law Studies, Banking and Finance Law Review, and the (UK) Journal of Comparative Law (all by invitation). She also acted as a judge for Ian Fletcher International Insolvency Law Moot 2018.

She was appointed as an Affiliated International Scholar at the National Centre for Business Law in Canada. More recently, in 2020, she was chosen as an ASLI Fellow by the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Law. Additionally, she has been appointed as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the EW Barker Centre for Law & Business, NUS Faculty of Law, from 3 November 2022 to 3 January 2023. She has also been a visiting scholar or visiting professor at several other internationally renowned academic institutions in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Additionally, she has been invited to teach LLM and LLB courses and subsequently taught them in China and Taiwan.

Research Area

  • Financial Law
  • FinTech Law
  • Corporate Insolvency Law
  • Cross-border Insolvency Law


SSRN
ORCID
HKU Scholars Hub


SSRN
ORCID
HKU Scholars Hub

Research Area

  • Financial Law
  • FinTech Law
  • Corporate Insolvency Law
  • Cross-border Insolvency Law

Research Profile

Selected publications

Book chapter

Editorship

The research areas to which Dr Lee has contributed significantly are international financial law and international insolvency law. She has developed specialised academic expertise in Hong Kong-China cross-border insolvency, which provides a special context for (inter-)regional conflict of laws. Her research in this area of law has achieved international recognition at the highest level, with a major article published by the American Journal of Comparative Law (AJCL), which is ranked as an A*-list law journal by the Australian Research Council’s ranking (2010). According to the AJCL’s author guide, “The American Journal of Comparative Law receives hundreds of submissions per year and accepts only six to eight percent for publication”. Additionally, two of her articles in this area of law are collected in the Private International Law Bibliography, 2015: US and Foreign Sources in English, published by the AJCL, along with world-renowned legal scholars’ books and articles. Her article on shadow banking in China was published by Peking University Law Journal, the preeminent law journal in China and an A-list law journal, according to the Australian Research Council’s ranking (2009). Her recent work on equity crowdfunding in Hong Kong has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Corporate Law Studies (JCLS), another A-list law journal in the Australian Research Council’s system of ranking (2010). Her article on financial inclusion has been published by the Journal of Business Law (JBL), also ranked as an A-list law journal by the Australian Research Council (2010). Both the JCLS and the JBL are among the UK’s top law journals.

Her academic publications cover a wide range of research topics, including crowdfunding, financial technology (FinTech), regulatory technology (RegTech), financial inclusion, traditional banking, shadow banking, international financial regulations (particularly on Basel III), financial crises, anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance by financial institutions, cross-border insolvency, Hong Kong-China cross-border insolvency, judicial recognition and assistance, Hong Kong insolvency law, Chinese insolvency law, comparative financial law and comparative insolvency law.

Her current research interests focus on the latest developments in FinTech and RegTech, equity crowdfunding, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending and other internet-based finance (alternative finance), and the impact of FinTech on the traditional banking industry in financial regulatory compliance.

She has published in leading international and regional peer-reviewed law journals. Her articles have been cited by academics in both common law and civil law jurisdictions, including the US, the UK, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and China. Her article on Chinese insolvency law was cited by a retired US bankruptcy judge in 2017. In 2016, proposal in her article on China’s bankruptcy law was cited and endorsed by McKinsey & Company’s McKinsey Global Institute, which is unanimously recognised as the world’s top think tank in the private sector. In 2018, her article on financial inclusion was cited by the Financial Services Development Council in the FSDC Paper No. 35.

Dr Lee’s publications are available for viewing at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1304029

  1. Advancing Digital Economy and Financial Inclusion through Central Bank Digital Currencies: A Comprehensive Analysis of Policies and Legal Implications through e-CNY and eNaira, African Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol. 25 (forthcoming, 2025).
  2. Digitalization and Tokenization of Money: Exploring Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Theories and Retail CBDC Developments in China and Beyond, Banking and Finance Law Review (forthcoming, 2025).
  3. ‘The Cooperation Mechanism and Legal Harmonisation: Analysing the Past, Present and Future of Mutual Recognition and Assistance in Insolvency Proceedings Across Mainland China and Hong Kong, with Insights from EU Insolvency Regulations’, Journal of Corporate Law Studies, Vol. 22(2), pp. 971-1015 (26 May 2023 published online; 21 June 2023 print publication)
  4. ‘Technology-Driven Solutions to Banks’ De-risking Practices in Hong Kong: FinTech and Blockchain-based Smart Contracts for Financial Inclusion’, Common Law World Review, Vol. 51(1-2), pp. 83-108 (May 2022 published online)
  5. ‘Digital Financial Inclusion: Observations and Insights from Hong Kong’s Virtual Banks’, Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 84, pp. 95-113 (March 2021)
  6. ‘Judicial Diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific: Theory and Evidence from the Singapore-Initiated Transnational Judicial Insolvency Network’, Journal of Corporate Law Studies, 20(2), pp. 389-420 (9 January 2020 published online; September 2020 print publication) [with Eric C. Ip]
  7. ‘Equity Crowdfunding in Hong Kong: Potential, Challenges, and Investor Protection’, Journal of Corporate Law Studies, Vol. 19(2), pp. 277-302 (July 2018 published online; August 2019 print publication)
  8. ‘Financial Inclusion: A Challenge to the New Paradigm of Financial Technology, Regulatory Technology and Anti-Money Laundering Law’, (UK) Journal of Business Law, 2017 Issue 6, pp. 473-498 (August 2017).
  9. ‘Problems of Judicial Recognition and Enforcement in Cross-Border Insolvency Matters between Hong Kong and Mainland China’, American Journal of Comparative Law, Vol. 63(2), pp. 439-465 (August 2015)
  10. ‘Shadow Banking System in China after the Global Financial Crisis: Why Shadow Banks Can Distort the Capital Market Order’, Peking University Law Journal, Vol. 3(2), pp. 361-384 (2015)
  11. ‘Will the FIFA Bribery Scandal Spur Money Laundering Law Reform in Hong Kong? Comparing Hong Kong’s Anti-Money Laundering Regime with Financial Action Task Force Recommendations’, Peking University Law Journal, Vol. 4(1), pp. 143-176 (2016)
  12. ‘The Shadow Banking System—Why It Will Hamper the Effectiveness of Basel III’, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation (JIBLR), Vol. 30(7), pp. 373-381 (July 2015) (invited submission)
  13. ‘Comparing Hong Kong and Chinese Insolvency Laws and Their Cross-Border Complexities’, The Journal of Comparative Law, Vol. 9(2), pp. 259-280 (March 2015)
  14. ‘The Soft Law Nature of Basel III and International Financial Regulations’, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, Vol. 29(10), pp. 603-612 (August 2014) (invited submission)
  15. ‘Basel III and Its New Capital Requirements, as Distinguished from Basel II’, The Banking Law Journal, Vol. 131(1), pp. 27-69 (January 2014)
  16. ‘Basel III: Post-Financial Crisis International Financial Regulatory Reform’, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, Vol. 28(11), pp. 433-447 (2013)
  17. ‘Investor Protection in Lehman Brothers’ Insolvency Litigation’, The Journal of Comparative Law, Vol. 7(2), pp. 284-306 (August 2013)
  18. ‘The Reorganization Process under China’s Corporate Bankruptcy System’, The International Lawyer, Vol. 45(4), pp. 939-974 (Winter 2011)
  19. ‘China’s New Enterprise Bankruptcy Law—A Great Leap Forward, but Just How Far’, International Insolvency Review, Vol. 19(2), pp. 145-177 (2010). [with Karen Ho]
  20. ‘Legal Pluralism, Institutionalism and Judicial Recognition of Hong Kong-China Cross-Border Insolvency Judgments’, Hong Kong Law Journal, Vol. 45(1), pp. 331-350 (May 2015)
  21. ‘Remuneration of Provisional Liquidators and Liquidators under the Official Receiver’s Contracting-Out Schemes’, Hong Kong Law Journal, Vol. 39(1), pp. 65-94 (2009)
  22. ‘Securities & Futures Commission v China Metal Recycling (Holdings) Limited: Regional Conflict of Laws, Judicial Recognition and Hong Kong-China Cross-Border Insolvencies’, in Annual Review of Insolvency Law 2014, Janis P. Sarra & Justice Barbara Romaine (ed.) (Carswell, February 2015), pp. 599-623 (invited submission)
  23. ‘Taiwan’s Recent Business Law Development—Financial Holding Companies and the Financial Holding Company Act in Taiwan; US Model, Compared’, in A Guide to Business Law in Asia, Pitman B. Potter & Ljiljana Biuković (ed.)(LexisNexis Canada, 2008), pp. 345-404 (invited submission)

“Securities & Futures Commission v China Metal Recycling (Holdings) Limited: Regional Conflict of Laws, Judicial Recognition and Hong Kong-China Cross-Border Insolvencies”, in Annual Review of Insolvency Law 2014, Janis P. Sarra & Justice Barbara Romaine (ed.) (Carswell, February 2015), pp. 599-623 (invited submission)

“Taiwan’s Recent Business Law Development—Financial Holding Companies and the Financial Holding Company Act in Taiwan; US Model, Compared”, in A Guide to Business Law in Asia, Pitman B. Potter & Ljiljana Biuković (ed.) (LexisNexis Canada, 2008), pp. 345-404 (invited submission)

Hong Kong Law Journal Special Tribute Issue (Vol. 39, Part 1, 2009): “Essays in Memory of Professor Philip St. John Smart”