GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Luxembourg Office was officially established in July 2023 in the Kirchberg central financial and business district of Luxembourg City, adjacent to core EU institutions including the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Investment Bank. Leveraging Luxembourg’s status as a world-renowned global hub for investment funds, the office serves as a core strategic pillar of the Firm in supporting Chinese-funded enterprises to expand into Europe and develop cross-border EU business.
The office is staffed by a dedicated team of lawyers holding both Chinese foreign-related practice qualifications and local Luxembourg bar admission. Core team members each have over 10 years of experience providing legal services across Chinese and European jurisdictions, and are proficient in Chinese, English, French and Dutch. With in-depth alignment with Luxembourg’s financial regulatory system and the unified EU legal framework, the office focuses on core demands of Chinese-funded enterprises — including EU headquarters setup, cross-border investment and financing, fund formation, compliance and risk control, and cross-border dispute resolution — delivering one-stop professional legal services with full-cycle support and multi-jurisdictional coordination.
This document sets out the official unified fee benchmark of GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Luxembourg Office for 2026. All quoted rates are exclusive of standard Luxembourg value-added tax (VAT at the current rate of 17%; exemptions may apply for cross-border legal services meeting EU rules). Settlement is available in three currencies: Euro (EUR), Renminbi (RMB) and US Dollar (USD). All fee arrangements strictly comply with the Luxembourg Lawyers' Professional Code and the professional conduct rules of the Luxembourg Bar Association.
I. COMPLIANT FEE STRUCTURES
All fee models of the office strictly adhere to the professional conduct rules of the Luxembourg Bar Association. Balancing the cross-border service conventions of Chinese-funded enterprises and EU commercial service standards, the office has established five standardised billing systems, as detailed below:
A.Fixed Fee Arrangement
Applicable to legal matters with standardised service processes and accurately quantifiable workloads. The total service fee within the scope agreed in the contract is locked in upon signing, with no additional charges for services outside the contracted scope. Core applicable scenarios include standardised services such as registration of local Luxembourg commercial entities, basic compliance filings, trademark and patent registration, drafting of standard-form legal documents, and basic fund filings.
B.Hourly Rate Arrangement
Applicable to matters where workload cannot be accurately determined in advance, such as complex cross-border projects, customised compliance consulting, and major dispute resolution. Fees are charged based on the actual billable hours of legal professionals. A detailed monthly timesheet is provided to the client, setting out work content, service duration and corresponding lawyer level, ensuring full traceability and verifiability throughout the engagement.
C.Tiered Percentage of Subject
Matter Arrangement Applicable to property-related legal matters such as cross-border mergers and acquisitions, asset transactions and large-scale commercial claims. Fees are charged on a tiered proportional basis according to the value of the case or project subject matter, fully consistent with industry practice for high-end commercial legal services in Luxembourg. The tiered rate decreases progressively as the subject matter value increases.
D.Contingency Fee Arrangement (Success Fee)
Applied strictly in accordance with the restrictive provisions of the Luxembourg Bar Association on contingency fees, and only available for specific civil and commercial cases such as debt collection, commercial tort claims and contract breach recovery. Fees are conditional on the client’s actual recovery of funds or a favourable judgment outcome, with the maximum charging ratio not exceeding 20% of the actual amount recovered. This billing model applies only to corresponding services provided by the Luxembourg Office within the framework of Luxembourg lawyer practice regulations, and is conducted in strict compliance with local professional conduct rules and regulatory requirements throughout the process.
E.Annual Retainer Arrangement for Legal Counsel
Provides enterprises with year-round, all-dimensional legal support for a fixed annual service fee. Clients are assigned a dedicated multilingual service team with priority response within 48 hours. The scope of services covers all legal scenarios for the enterprise’s daily operations in Luxembourg, including compliance and risk control, contract management, and policy interpretation.
II. HOURLY RATE SCHEDULE FOR LEGAL PROFESSIONALS
All lawyers at GUOZUN CATHAY ASSOCIATES Luxembourg Office hold valid practising certificates issued by the Luxembourg Bar Association. The core team has extensive expertise in the application of laws across Chinese, Luxembourgish and multiple EU jurisdictions, and is capable of seamless multilingual service delivery. Senior partners hold practice qualifications across multiple EU jurisdictions, with deep specialisation in core areas including cross-border investment, international commercial affairs, financial regulation, and compliance and risk control. A tiered pricing system is implemented.
The unified hourly rate range for 2026 is EUR 220 – EUR 720 per hour, covering all levels from junior practising lawyers, intermediate specialist lawyers and senior partners to cross-border experts from the Beijing headquarters. The final rate is determined based on a comprehensive assessment of case complexity, professional suitability, project urgency and team configuration.
Additional Billing Rules
1.A travel and fieldwork allowance of 25%–50% applies for work performed outside Luxembourg;
2.A 50% surcharge is levied for 48-hour expedited response and work conducted on public holidays;
3.Rates are uplifted by 20% for cases requiring cross-border multi-jurisdictional coordination within the EU;
4.Rates are uplifted by 15% for dedicated multilingual court hearing services;
5.Rates are uplifted by 10%–20% for specialised cases involving financial regulatory compliance and EU export control matters.
III. FEE SCHEDULES FOR CORE PRACTICE AREAS
This schedule focuses on the core practice areas of the Luxembourg Office, is precisely tailored to the key demands of Chinese-funded enterprises entering Europe, and is aligned with the Luxembourg judicial system and EU regulatory rules. All fees set out below are benchmark ranges; the final quotation will be based on the actual complexity of the project. Details are as follows:
A. Investment Fund & Financial Specialist Legal Services: EUR 8,000 – EUR 85,000
1.Full-process formation, filing and compliance services for Luxembourg Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) funds and Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) alternative investment funds;
2.Structure design for private equity / venture capital funds, application for fund manager qualifications, and daily operational compliance;
3.Specialist legal services for cross-border investment and financing structure design, bond listing, asset securitisation and project financing;
4.International tax planning, cross-border tax cost optimisation, and compliance services for the establishment of Luxembourg treasury centres;
5.Compliance filing for Chinese-funded financial institutions conducting business in Europe, and the establishment and implementation of EU financial regulatory compliance systems.
B. China-EU Cross-Border Investment & Market Access Legal Services: EUR 1,200 – EUR 36,000
1.Full-process agency services for the establishment of subsidiaries, branches, regional headquarters and representative offices of Chinese-funded enterprises in Luxembourg, including compliance screening under the EU Foreign Investment Screening Regulation (FIRM);
2.Application for Luxembourg industry operation licences, business qualification filings, and the design and implementation of compliant foreign shareholding structures;
3.Legal due diligence for two-way China-EU investment, investment route planning, and the application and implementation of Luxembourg preferential tax policies;
4.Specialist services for enterprise equity restructuring, qualification changes, ongoing compliance maintenance of entities, and cross-border enterprise deregistration and liquidation;
5.Supporting services for the establishment of Chinese-funded enterprises’ EU headquarters, local business resource matching and full-process support for compliance filings.
C. Cross-Border M&A & Corporate Capital Operations Legal Services: EUR 6,000 – EUR 80,000
1.Full-process legal services for China-EU cross-border equity mergers and acquisitions, asset acquisitions and greenfield investment, including comprehensive legal due diligence on target companies;
2.Full-process management of investment and financing transaction structure design, transaction document drafting, commercial negotiation, closing execution and post-closing integration;
3.Compliance review and full-process agency for Luxembourg corporate financing, capital increase and share expansion, merger and division, and asset restructuring;
4.EU regulatory filing for cross-border M&A, foreign exchange compliance coordination, and multi-jurisdictional transaction compliance coordination services;
5.Specialised cross-border investment support covering multiple sectors including new energy, high-end manufacturing, logistics and trade, and technology and internet.
D. Corporate & Commercial Comprehensive Legal Services: EUR 5,000 – EUR 72,000
1.Full-cycle commercial compliance services for local Luxembourg enterprises, and specialised services for equity structure design, equity transfer and shareholder rights protection;
2.Contract review for daily enterprise operations, customised commercial document preparation, joint venture and cooperation scheme design, and legal risk control;
3.Compliance risk control for cross-border commercial transactions, compliance review of transaction guarantees, and prevention and handling of commercial fraud risks;
4.Pre-mediation of China-EU commercial disputes, handling of contract breaches, and full-process non-litigation rights protection services;
5.Establishment of enterprise internal control systems, full-process commercial legal risk screening and formulation of emergency response plans.
E. EU Compliance & Regulatory Response Legal Services: EUR 3,800 – EUR 68,000
1.Establishment of comprehensive compliance systems under EU and Luxembourg local rules, including anti-bribery, anti-fraud, export control and anti-monopoly compliance development;
2.Full-scope compliance transformation under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), enterprise data governance, and cross-border data transfer compliance review;
3.Specialised compliance audits for the finance, technology and innovation, foreign trade and manufacturing industries, regulatory policy interpretation and compliance risk screening;
4.Response to inspections by Luxembourg government authorities and EU regulatory bodies, reply to regulatory enquiries, and compliance defence and remedy against administrative penalties;
5.Dual China-EU jurisdiction compliance training, implementation of enterprise compliance systems, and formulation of regulatory risk emergency response plans.
F. Human Resources & Cross-Border Employment Compliance Legal Services: EUR 300 – EUR 23,000
1.Customised multilingual employment documentation aligned with Luxembourg labour law, including compliance review and drafting of employment contracts, employee handbooks and internal rules and regulations;
2.Full-process agency services for work permit and dependent visa application, renewal and change for foreign employees of Chinese-funded enterprises;
3.Compliance planning for Luxembourg employment quotas, design of local employment schemes, and prevention of illegal employment risks;
4.Compliance handling of employee dismissal and labour disputes, and full-process representation in Luxembourg labour arbitration and litigation;
5.Annual employment compliance health checks for enterprises, response to labour authority inspections, and compliance design for executive employment and equity incentives.
G. Intellectual Property & Technology Legal Services: EUR 280 – EUR 33,000
1.Full-process agency for the registration, renewal and amendment of trademarks, patents and copyrights in Luxembourg and the EU for Chinese brands;
2.Full-case representation in intellectual property infringement investigations, cross-border evidence collection, Luxembourg administrative complaints and judicial enforcement;
3.Handling of brand counterfeiting and domain name disputes, protection of trade secrets, and implementation of non-compete compliance schemes;
4.Drafting of cross-border intellectual property licensing and assignment agreements between China and the EU, and control of technical cooperation compliance risks;
5.Specialised services for EU intellectual property portfolio planning for tech innovation enterprises, and establishment of intellectual property risk control systems for overseas brands.
H. Cross-Border Dispute Resolution & International Award Enforcement Legal Services: EUR 1,600 – EUR 490,000
1.Mediation of China-EU commercial contract disputes and investment disputes, and full-process representation in litigation before courts at all levels in Luxembourg;
2.Full-process representation in arbitration cases before institutions including the Luxembourg Arbitration Centre and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Court of Arbitration;
3.Specialist services for cross-border recognition and enforcement of Chinese, Luxembourgish and EU court judgments and arbitral awards, and cross-border property preservation;
4.Full-process agency for cross-border debt collection, arrears recovery and local enforcement proceedings in Luxembourg;
5.Handling of administrative disputes and commercial torts, and cross-border criminal compliance review and supporting legal services.
Special Note: For major cross-border economic crimes, transnational financial violations and major criminal cases, there is no fixed upper fee limit. Quotations will be customised based on case difficulty, scale of cross-border collaboration, evidence collection costs and case handling duration.
I. Personal Cross-Border Planning & Family Law Services: EUR 800 – EUR 5,000
1.Full-process compliance agency for business visa, long-term residence visa and investment-based residence status applications;
2.Compliance review of Luxembourg real estate purchase and leasing, and legal risk control for cross-border asset transactions;
3.Legal consulting and dispute resolution agency for cross-border family disputes, estate inheritance and divorce property division;
4.Compliance consulting, legal risk screening and compliance advice on personal cross-border asset allocation.
IV. KEY FACTORS AFFECTING LEGAL FEES
1.Complexity of cross-border compliance: For cases involving multi-jurisdictional coordination within the EU, application of dual Chinese and EU laws, cross-border evidence collection and participation of entities from multiple countries, fees will be uplifted based on actual difficulty;
2.Industry professional barriers: Fees for highly specialised fields such as investment funds, financial regulation, EU anti-monopoly law and cross-border taxation are higher than those for basic civil and commercial legal services;
3.Case handling difficulty: Fees for major litigation and arbitration, difficult cross-border enforcement, special EU regulatory response matters and matters with high difficulty in foreign-related evidence collection will be dynamically adjusted based on actual circumstances;
4.Service urgency: For projects requiring expedited commencement or handling on holidays / weekends, expedited service fees will be charged strictly in accordance with the standard;
5.Cooperation and procurement model: Bundled annual legal counsel retainer arrangements can reduce overall service costs by 15%–25% compared with separate procurement of individual services;
6.Service team configuration: For projects handled jointly by experts from multiple fields, with cross-border coordination between the Beijing headquarters and the Luxembourg Office, or staffed by a dedicated multilingual team, fees will be adjusted accordingly;
7.Case performance risk: The charging ratio for contingency fee (success fee) cases is directly linked to the probability of case success, difficulty of fund recovery and service cycle.
V. THIRD-PARTY EXPENSES TO BE BUDGETED SEPARATELY
The following expenses are separate from legal service fees and are reimbursed on an actual-cost basis in accordance with official Luxembourg standards or actual disbursements. The Firm does not charge any agency premium for these items. Specifically:
1.Government fees: Official charges including commercial entity registration fees, visa application fees, court litigation fees, arbitration institution fees, official intellectual property fees and industry licence filing fees;
2.Notarisation and authentication fees: Fees for local Luxembourg notarisation, apostille authentication and China-Luxembourg consular legalisation, settled on an actual-cost basis in accordance with official and partner institution standards;
3.Professional translation fees: Fees for multilingual translation of legal documents and simultaneous interpretation for court hearings, settled on a per-service / per-word basis in accordance with Luxembourg translation industry standards;
4.Expert service fees: Fees charged by judicial appraisal institutions, industry expert consultants and third-party due diligence agencies, settled based on actual expenditure;
5.Field travel expenses: Transportation, accommodation and fieldwork allowances incurred for case handling within and outside Luxembourg, reimbursed against valid receipts;
6.Financial handling fees: Bank charges arising from cross-border transfers and currency exchange shall be borne by the entrusting party;
7.Other third-party fees: Fees charged by third-party professional institutions such as auditors, asset appraisers and compliance testing bodies, settled based on actual commissioned expenditure.
VI. IMPORTANT NOTICE
The fee standards set out in this document are official benchmark reference prices for 2026 and do not constitute any form of service offer or invitation to treat. The final fee amount for all legal services shall be governed by the written engagement contract signed by both parties, determined based on the client’s specific requirements, actual case circumstances, scope of services and project complexity.