Chan Sio

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Mr Chan In Devin Sio, an unregistered barrister of Middle Temple resident in Hong Kong, admitted two charges of professional misconduct. Charge 1 was parasitic on findings of the Hong Kong Barristers Disciplinary Tribunal (Statement of Findings dated 2 August 2022) that he had failed to act competently in the "157 Action", attended a solicitor's residence for a professional conference without good reason, and dishonestly furnished untrue/inaccurate information to the Standing Committee on Discipline of the Hong Kong Bar Association. In Hong Kong he was suspended for a total of 45 months, censured, fined HK$2,500 and ordered to pay costs of HK$406,800.34. Charge 2 concerned his failure to report the Hong Kong regulatory action and proceedings to the BSB. The BTAS Tribunal expressly found the Respondent had been deliberately dishonest and lied to the Standing Committee, that his dishonesty was calculated and self-serving, and that he showed no remorse. It found disbarment the only available sanction on Charge 1, with no further sanction on Charge 2 on totality grounds.

Duties found breached:

• Report serious misconduct of others
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty was calculated and deliberate, not a fleeting or momentary lapse
• No remorse or apology shown
• Concerted action to cover his tracks during the Hong Kong tribunal hearing
• Maintained conflicting accounts and only confronted when caught out by High Court transcript evidence given under oath
• Failure to report only after being effectively caught out
• Cavalier attitude towards professional duties