Julia Charlton is a qualified solicitor in Hong Kong and England and Wales and is a Cayman attorney-at-law. She holds an LLB degree with First Class Honours from King’s College London and a PG Diploma in Strategy & Innovation from the University of Oxford. Julia was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 1985 and in Hong Kong in 1987, establishing the foundation for a distinguished legal career spanning several jurisdictions.
Julia joined the City of London law firm Slaughter and May in 1982, trained and worked with Slaughter and May in London, relocating to the firm’s Hong Kong office as an Assistant Solicitor in 1987. During this period, she focused on corporate finance and related areas.
Julia continued to build her corporate finance practice at leading international firms in Hong Kong throughout the 1990s and joined Simmons & Simmons as a Partner from 1994 to 1996, advising on a range of corporate and securities matters. In 1996, Julia co-founded the predecessor firm to Charltons, a Hong Kong-based corporate finance law firm in Hong Kong, which Julia established in 1998. As the founding and principal partner of Charltons, she then led the firm, advising clients across Asia and internationally on complex corporate finance transactions. Charltons is headquartered in Hong Kong with offices in Shanghai and Beijing, reflecting Julia’s long-standing practice in Hong Kong and Greater China.
Throughout her career, Julia has focused exclusively on corporate finance, securities, and capital markets law, including public and private mergers and acquisitions, private equity, investment funds, and related regulatory matters. She has over four decades of experience in these fields and is widely recognized for her deep expertise in Hong Kong’s capital markets. Julia is notably active on behalf of mining industry clients, having advised on over 80 international mining sector transactions. She has also been at the forefront of emerging financial technologies, advising on numerous projects since around 2017 involving blockchain, virtual assets, and cryptocurrency ventures. Her extensive deal experience spans initial public offerings, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, investment fund launches, and regulatory compliance matters, underscored by her international outlook and ability to advise on cross-border transactions and offshore structures. In 2024, upon her Cayman admission, she joined Ritch & Connolly as a consultant, bringing her considerable expertise to the firm’s Cayman practice.
Beyond her legal practice, Julia has contributed significantly to public and regulatory services in Hong Kong’s financial markets. She was a long-serving member of the Listing Committee of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong from 2012 to 2018, during which she chaired a Listing Rules Review Sub-Committee on Pre-IPO Investments. She is currently a member of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s Listing Review Committee, which oversees reviews of listing decisions. Julia also serves on the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong’s Takeovers and Mergers Panel and its Takeovers Appeals Committee, playing a role in regulating public M&A and takeovers. In addition, she is a member of the Company Law Committee of the Law Society of Hong Kong, where she at times plays a leading role in reviewing and commenting on corporate law reforms. Through these roles, Julia has been closely involved in major listing reforms and regulatory developments in Hong Kong, including initiatives to raise corporate governance standards and enhance investor protections. She notably initiated and coordinated a market-wide project that produced the Hong Kong Sponsor Due Diligence Guidelines in 2013, an important reform aimed at strengthening IPO due diligence practices.
Julia continues to advise on high-profile transactions and to shape the regulatory landscape, bringing a wealth of experience and insight to her role as a consultant with Ritch & Connolly.