U.S. law firm Dechert considering shuttering offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Reuters reports citing sources

U.S.-founded law firm Dechert is considering closing its offices in Hong Kong and Beijing, becoming the latest foreign firm to scale back in Greater China, two people said, amid a prolonged capital market downturn and growing Sino-U.S. tensions.

Dechert has more than 20 employees in its Hong Kong office, 14 of whom are lawyers, including four partners, according to its website and one of the people. Its Beijing office houses only three lawyers, as per the website.

There are no other China offices listed on the global law firm's website.

Some of the impacted employees were notified earlier this month about a potential office closure, said the people, who have knowledge of the matter but declined to be identified as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

The firm, which has about 1,000 lawyers globally, has since been in discussions with several employees in Hong Kong and Beijing, in particular lawyers, about a potential relocation to Singapore, said one of the people.

If the move from China is finalized, Dechert's Asia footprint will be limited to Singapore, which has 14 lawyers including six partners.

It was not immediately clear what would be the effective date of closure of the offices, and whether the firm has started notifying its clients about the move.

Dechert representatives in the U.S. did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The move comes as a growing number of U.S. and other global law firms have been rethinking or reducing their presence in China amid growing pressures on foreign businesses, economic uncertainties, muted deal activities, and geopolitical tensions.

New government rules on data privacy and cybersecurity were among the reasons cited by Dentons last year when the global law firm ended its