Roy (Ruoweng) Liu is partner and chair of Hughes Hubbard's Greater China practice group.
Having been recognized by Legal 500, Chambers,
and WorldECR, Roy Liu is a multidisciplinary problem solver adept at handling
the most complex combinations of U.S. regulatory, investigation, litigation, and
transactional issues.
A “go to” trade expert for many Fortune 500
companies, Roy routinely handles regulatory and compliance matters related to economic
sanctions, export controls, anti-money laundering (AML), customs, information
and communication technology (ICTS), and reviews by the Committee on Foreign
Investment in the United States (CFIUS). He regularly represents clients before
the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Office of Foreign Assets Controls
(OFAC), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and CFIUS.
Roy is battle-tested in all stages of U.S.
federal government investigations. In 2018,
Roy was a core member of the defense team in the landmark investigation by the
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Commerce, and Department of
Treasury against ZTE, securing a settlement for the company that resulted in
the lifting of trade restrictions on the company. Roy continues to play a key role in a number
of ongoing major U.S. government investigations.
Roy also is an experienced litigator, having
played a key role in employment and intellectual property disputes before
federal courts in California and international trade disputes before the U.S.
International Trade Commission, the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S.
Federal Circuit, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Roy is familiar with U.S. regulatory issues
in cross-border transactions, having assisted the due diligence and remediation
efforts in numerous M&A transactions involving Global 500 companies.
Recognized as a leading expert on U.S. trade
issues related to China, Roy has frequently been invited to speak on this topic
at conferences hosted by the American Association of Exporters and Importers
(AAEI), Thomson Reuters, WorldECR, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and
the Global Enterprise Development Forum.
He also has appeared in numerous articles on this topic published by South
China Morning Post, Politico, WorldECR, China Trade News, China Business Law
Journal, Asia Times, Intelligeast, and the Tulane International Law and
Comparative Law Journal.
While at Stanford University Law School, Roy
was on the Stanford Law Review and was selected as an article editor.
Highlighted Publications
The Growing and Continued Focus on Chinese Investment in CFIUS Reviews, WorldECR, July 2021 (co-authored with Ryan Fayhee and Tyler Grove)
Storm brewing? Time for a Cloud check, Export Compliance Manager, October 2020 (co-authored with Ryan Fayhee, Tyler Grove, and Marcus Yu)
How Should Chinese Companies Respond to U.S. Government Investigations, TradeInvest, November 2019
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
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, Annual Analysis Meeting of Oversea Legal Counsel (U.S Region) of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), August 5, 2022
Speaker, The Impact of U.S. Regulations on the Taiwanese Semiconductor Industry, November 22, 2021
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
Currently representing a public traded Global 500 company in connection with a trade violation investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice
Currently assisting a major Western company’s response to regulation by prosecutors appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding its China operations
Assisted ZTE Corporation, one of the largest global telecommunication companies, in negotiating and reaching a settlement agreement with the U.S. government and relevant regulators to successfully remove it from the Denied Persons List.
Procured U.S. export and deemed export licenses for a leading Silicon Valley company on unmanned aerial vehicles technology developed in the United States
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 Yantai Jereh, a major publicly traded Chinese oil and gas equipment company, in its response to U.S. export control and sanctions enforcement actions; establishing an effective sanctions and export control compliance system; and successfully reaching a settlement agreement with the U.S. government to remove it from the Entity List. This is one of only a few successful cases of Chinese companies being removed from the Entity List in recent years
Assisted a major casino with a U.S. anti-money laundering investigation
Assisted a major U.S. importer of tires with a U.S. Customs audit and claims for additional duties
Assisted numerous 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