Roy (Ruoweng) Liu is partner and chair of Hughes Hubbard's Greater China practice group.
Recognized by Chambers and WorldECR, Roy Liu is adept at helping clients navigate companies through a variety of complex long-arm U.S. regulations on international trade and investment.
His areas of practice include U.S. export controls and economic sanctions, reviews and investigations by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and anti-money laundering (AML).
He is a key author of the U.S. section of the much acclaimed International Trade and Commercial Transactions Global Guide published by Thomson Reuters Practical Law.
Roy has appeared in numerous articles on trade law in both English and Chinese publications, such as Politico, WorldECR, China Trade News, China Business Law Journal, Asia Times, Intelligeast, and the Tulane International Law and Comparative Law Journal.
Roy is a frequent speaker on international trade law issues at major conferences held by the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI), Thomson Reuters, WorldECR, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Global Enterprise Development Forum.
Roy is an internationally recognized professional on U.S. investment and trade regulatory issues related to China. Roy has represented both U.S. and Chinese companies before U.S. government authorities and, in cooperation with Chinese lawyers, before Chinese government authorities. He has experience dealing with challenging issues such as those related to the Entity List and other restricted parties lists (also known as "U.S. blacklists" in China), obtaining CFIUS clearance for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions involving Chinese investments, and mitigating FCPA and AML risks unique to China.
While at Stanford University Law School, Roy was on the Stanford Law Review and was selected as an articles editor.
Highlighted Publications
Sale and storage of goods in the United States: overview, Thomson Reuters Practical Law, January 2019
International trade in goods and services in the United States: overview, Thomson Reuters Practical Law, January 2019
The Export Compliance Manager’s Handbook (co-author of the “Intracompany Transfer” chapter), WorldECR, May 2017
How Can Chinese-Invested Companies Cope with CFIUS in Overseas Investments (in Chinese), Intelligeast, March 2017
US Should Rethink China Views, Asia Times Online, December 2012
Will the Real Country of Origin Please Stand Up?, the Tulane International Law and Comparative Law Journal, 2013
Highlighted Lectures
Speaker, How the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) Might Impact Foreign Investments in the US Healthcare Sector, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Featured Speaker Series, Rockville, MD, March 14, 2019
Speaker, Impact of U.S. Trade Control Laws on Chinese Companies (in Chinese), Thomson Reuters China Monthly Series, Beijing, China, October 26, 2018
Panelist, Trade War: Where is the World Heading, Global FIS Summit Series: Hong Kong, September 12, 2018
Panelist, Everything Old is New Again: CFIUS and FIRRMA, American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI) 97th Annual Conference and Expo, Baltimore, MD, June 7, 2018
Speaker, A Word on Your EAR? Export Control Enforcement, Trends, and Lessons to Learn, WorldECR Forum Programme 2018, Washington, D.C., June 4, 2018
Speaker, How Should Chinese Companies Handle Issues Related to U.S. Trade Control Compliance, Global Enterprise Development Forum 2018, Changzhou, China, May 12, 2018
Recognitions
Recommended in The Legal 500 United States for Dispute Resolution: International Trade, 2020 – 2022
International Trade/WTO (International Firms) (Expertise Based Abroad) (China), Chambers Global, 2019
2017 Young Practitioner of the Year – Highly Commended, WorldECR Award, 2017
Highlighted Matters
Assisted a major Chinese telecommunications company with issues arising from settlement agreement with the U.S. government and monitorship appointed by the U.S. government
Procured U.S. export and deemed export licenses for a leading Silicon Valley company on unmanned aerial vehicles technology developed in the United States
Assisted a major publicly traded Chinese oil and gas equipment manufacturer with a U.S. export controls and sanctions enforcement action and removal from the Entity List
Negotiated compliance representations and warranties and conducted related due diligence for several cross-border transactions involving Fortune 500 companies, including Dell, Honeywell, Cisco, Audi, DMW, Daimler, and Ford
Obtained CFIUS clearance for the acquisition of a U.S. electronics company by a major Chinese asset management company
Represent JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation before CFIUS in connection with carbon capture and CO2-enhance oil recovered project in Texas
Assisted a major Chinese-owned financial institution with a U.S. anti-money laundering investigation
Assisted a major U.S. importer of tires from China with a U.S. Customs audit and claims for additional duties
Assisted numerous Chinese companies with mitigation of U.S. export controls risk and penalties in connection with their public listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Conducted a comprehensive internal FCPA investigation in China for a global pharmaceutical company that has extensive operations in China