International

International companies need specialised advice when dealing with Australian laws, including the tax and migration systems.

For international companies wanting to enter into the Australian market, or Australian companies needing advice on expanding into international markets, strategic advice is needed to maximise international growth opportunities.

How we can help

Our international team has long-term experience in advising foreign or foreign-owned clients on complex cross-border transactions and disputes and developing a practical understanding of the business environment in Australia. 

We bridge legal, linguistic and cultural differences in a manner that is beneficial to our clients. Our partners and senior lawyers who work in geographic-focused areas of our international practice are native speakers and understand first-hand the commercial and legal issues of doing business in that country.  

For clients who speak German, Spanish or Mandarin, please see our dedicated Deutsch, Espanol and 中文 pages. 

We act for internationally known companies from all over the world, stock-exchange listed companies in Australia and overseas, and medium-sized companies conducting their business in Australia. 

We act for many of our international clients as their Australian counsel, assisting with multidisciplinary matters across a number of core areas of expertise and sectors.

Drawing on our significant international experience and our wide-ranging network of contacts, our international lawyers facilitate our clients’ access to relevant local experts in and outside of Australia and improve the efficiency with which cross-border transactions are conducted.

Our resources for international clients

We have a range of guides available to help companies with their market entry into Australia, including how to set up a business, the taxation system, regulation of inbound investment and more. 

To further assist companies looking to enter the Australian market, we’ve developed innovative tools like our Market Entry App and FIRB App. These products provide foreign investors with initial insights into navigating regulatory requirements and understanding key considerations for a successful market entry. 

We regularly publish news and insights updates. We also publish the Smarter Lawcast podcast, where our experts discuss topical legal issues. The ‘Doing Business in Australia’ podcast is specifically aimed at our international audience. 

‘Hall & Wilcox are ahead of others in terms of … being easy to deal with while remaining experts in their field. You feel confident to rely on them. And they have a great attention to detail and efficiency that some other law firms never seem to provide.’ 

Chambers Asia Pacific 2022

Worldwide expertise

We have international practices established with specialist teams for a number of worldwide regions and countries, including: 

  • Asia

  • Europe

  • United Kingdom

  • North America

 
Asia

Headed by Eugene Chen, our specialist lawyers have solid experience advising our clients, in a diverse range of industries, on all aspects of investing and doing business both in Australia and internationally. 

We have partners and lawyers who speak fluent Mandarin and understand the cultural and legal differences between doing business in China and in Australia. We also have lawyers from many other jurisdictions working for us, including Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand.

We have strong links to independent international law firms, including many based in China, Hong Kong and Singapore, through our membership of international networks. We have strong tax structuring capabilities and established relationships with a number of accounting firms, many of which have offices outside Australia.

Europe

Headed by Oliver Jankowsky, our Europe practice has extensive experience in advising clients from across Europe on all aspects of Australian business law. 

While the European Australian Free Trade Agreement negotiations are on hold for now, we continue to see healthy levels of interest from German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Swiss, Austrian, Swedish and Belgian investors in particular. 

Our team includes Dr Wolfgang BabeckStefan FenkMark Inston, Anne Utecht and Albert Ponte.

United Kingdom 

Australia and the UK have a strong relationship, owing to our shared heritage, common values, aligned strategic outlook, and trade and investment links. 

Chris Brown leads our UK practice, together with a team of highly experienced experts. Chris is a commercial lawyer with more than 20 years’ experience in international corporate transactions and advice. Chris is a dual-qualified lawyer admitted to practice in Australia and in England and Wales.

North America 

The United States is Australia’s largest direct investor. However, it is a two-way partnership, with many Australian companies investing in the US. Combined, the investment relationship is almost as large as Australia. This is indicative of a deep relationship between countries that have a great deal in common.

Our US team is led by Jacqui Barrett, who has extensive experience in a wide range of corporate and commercial legal transactions working with both Australian and international companies. Jacqui regularly advises and assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring, corporate compliance and governance, capital raisings and managed investment schemes, ensuring adherence to all applicable Australian and international regulations.

Our international experience
German
United Kingdom (UK)
Asia
United States (US)

Key contact

Our team

Hall & Wilcox acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land, sea and waters on which we work, live and engage. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

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