Catriona McDevitt

Hadef & Partners has added Catriona McDevitt as partner and head of banking and finance. She will continue to grow and invest in the firm’s banking and finance practice across the Abu Dhabi and Dubai offices. McDevitt has over 17 years’ experience in all aspects of banking and finance, gained from working at leading international law firms in the UAE and London. She is also a former Head of Legal for Wholesale Banking for one of the largest banks in the Middle East, and has advised one of the region’s largest oil companies. Having spent 14 years in the UAE, she is well-versed in the UAE legal market, advising a wide and diverse range of clients on a variety of finance transactions in Europe, Africa, the US, Asia and the Middle East on all aspects of banking issues. Prior to coming to the UAE, McDevitt worked in the UK and Europe at a magic circle law firm. She is an associate member of The Chartered Governance Institute (ICSA) and of the GCC Board of Directors Institute. McDevitt holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Cape Town. She was admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales in 2005.


 

 

Jatin Arora

Phoenix Legal has added Jatin Arora as a partner on September 16, 2021. He will lead the firm’s indirect tax practice, and will operate out of the Mumbai office. Arora has over 22 years of wide-ranging experience in indirect tax, including GST, customs, excise, service tax and VAT laws. He started his career as an independent counsel in the High Courts and various tribunals, and later worked with the Big 4 consulting firms. Arora has worked extensively with Indian and foreign multinational companies across different sectors. He has also extensively worked on the GST regime, and advised various companies on their transition to the GST regime; structured global supply chains, considering local and global trade aspects; and helped set up businesses in various parts of India by undertaking locational analyses. Moreover, Arora has worked with industry associations on matters involving industry specific ramifications, and advised on representations to the Government and the GST Council.


 

 

Derrick Khoo

Tilleke & Gibbins has added of Derrick Khoo as a partner in the regional corporate / M&A team. Khoo’s practice focuses on M&A, growth equity investments, pre-IPO investments, corporate real estate, FDIs, JVs, and other corporate and commercial transactions. He has represented a diverse client base, including sovereign wealth funds, private equity funds, investment banks, state-owned enterprises and other top corporations. Over the course of his career, Khoo has been involved in numerous prolific M&A, private equity, and capital markets transactions. Prior to joining the firm, he was general counsel for an international group with investments in real estate, telecommunications, F&B and other sectors, where he oversaw all legal and regulatory matters in Hong Kong, Singapore and Myanmar. He has also amassed more than a decade of cross-border transactional experience as a private-practice lawyer with top international firms, while based in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore and Dubai. Khoo is qualified as a solicitor of the High Court of Hong Kong SAR, an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore, and a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. As a fluent Mandarin Chinese speaker, he will co-head the firm’s China desk, and serve as a key liaison with the firm’s China-based clients.


 

 

Hern Kuan Liu

ZICO Insights Law, the Singapore member firm of the ZICO Law network, has added Hern Kuan Liu to head its new tax practice, effective September 1, 2021. The new practice is a strategic area that will provide clients with a complete service offering for Singapore law. Liu is an experienced tax lawyer in Singapore, and has argued several landmark cases before the various tax tribunals and courts in Singapore. With extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, Liu was a tax manager in two of the Big 4 accounting firms before joining the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), where he served as chief legal officer for over a decade, and headed a tax practice at a major Singapore law firm thereafter. His work primarily involves tax disputes with IRAS, though he also advises clients on domestic and international tax planning and structuring, including stamp duty relief.

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