COVID-19 could be the black swan that has devastating effects on the global economy. Concerns over the impact of the virus have caused significant volatility in the stock markets over the last few weeks and the potential scale of the impact across a very wide range of industries is just beginning to be realised.

Alfred CY Chow, a partner at Hong Kong firm Kwan & Chow, is believed to be the first lawyer in the city to have contracted COVID-19, according to a report in the Apple Daily.

In the weeks since the world got to first hear about the coronavirus outbreak in China, business activity in and around the country has been greatly affected, with initial public offerings being no different.

If any more evidence was needed that China was the engine powering the regional – not to mention the global – economy, it has arrived in the form of the fallout from the 2019 coronavirus outbreak.

Bankers in Asia are bracing for a deal drought as efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus epidemic have put key meetings and roadshows on hold.

As the coronavirus outbreak in China shows no signs of abating any time soon, some companies that buy and sell goods in the Chinese market are considering the legal defense of force majeure.

Many global companies from hotels and airlines to industrial houses are expected to have to foot the bill for disruptions caused by a new coronavirus in China, with epidemics usually excluded from insurance cover, experts said.

As the deadly coronavirus continues to spread, closing offices and triggering a face-mask frenzy both on the mainland and in Hong Kong, law firms in both places are exercising caution, with many advising their staff to work from home.