Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has come under scrutiny for its role on an acquisition by China’s Alibaba that has fallen foul of Hong Kong’s takeover regulator.

The Takeovers and Mergers Panel of Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission found that the e-commerce giant had breached the territory’s takeover rules when it bought a healthcare company in 2014, because the acquisition amounted to a “special deal”, prohibited under the code.