Many hedge fund managers based in the U.S. or Europe have considered opening an office in Asia, but few are conversant with the benefits and burdens of the various Asian jurisdictions, and fewer still are familiar with the specific steps necessary to open an Asian office.  To address this information gap, Maria Gabriela Bianchini, founder of Optionality Consulting, is publishing a four-part series in the Hedge Fund Law Report.  The first article in this series identified factors that hedge fund managers should consider in determining whether to open an office in Asia and compared the relative merits of Hong Kong and Singapore as locations for an office.  See “Primary Regulatory and Business Considerations When Opening a Hedge Fund Management Company Office in Asia (Part One of Four),” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 4, No. 43 (Dec. 1, 2011).  This article – the second in the series – discusses technical steps and considerations for the actual process of opening an office in either Hong Kong or Singapore.  Many of these steps are applicable to the establishment of any new office outside of a manager’s home jurisdiction, but they are discussed in this article in the context of an Asian office opening.  Part three of this series will discuss the changing regulatory landscape affecting managers in Singapore and part four will conclude with a discussion of Hong Kong.