| Berwin Leighton Paisner has appointed private client expert Simon Michaels as a partner in its Singapore office to head a new practice group which will focus on supporting and developing private clients based in or investing in the region. He joins from Baker & McKenzie’s Singapore office. Michaels, who has vast and proven experience across South East Asia, specialises in advising ultra-high net worth individuals and their related trusts, controlled companies and business.
Eversheds has welcomed M&A partner Jean-Marc Deschandol as the new managing partner of its Shanghai office. Joining the firm after a decade with Norton Rose, he is a corporate finance specialist with more than 20 years of on-the-ground experience in China. Over the years, he has further focused his expertise towards cross-border M&As, leading on complex and high profile transactions. He speaks and reads English, Chinese and French fluently.
Mallesons Stephen Jaques has appointed three new partners and a special counsel, namely Patrick Phua, Jill Wong, Denis Brock and Philip Willox to bolster its practice in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Phua previously worked with the firm’s Sydney and Hong Kong offices before working with Clifford Chance. He joins the firm on 1 January 2011 as banking and finance partner in Beijing where he will lead the outbound lending, derivatives and structured finance practice in China. In his over 10 years practice, Phua has advised PRC corporate and financial institutions, foreign banks and private equity investors. His expertise also extends to foreign direct investments into China, having acted for a number of blue chip international clients.
• Wong joins the firm also on 1 January 2011 as special counsel in Hong Kong. She specialises in regulatory, compliance and risk management issues relating to banking and financial services. Wong has 20 years of experience, having previously worked for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and a number of leading international law firms in Hong Kong. She has acted for major banks and financial institutions, corporations and multinationals, with both contentious and non-contentious regulatory matters in Hong Kong and other Asian jurisdictions.
• Brock comes to the firm’s Hong Kong office, after a distinguished career in litigation and dispute resolution in both Asia and the UK. He joins the firm from Clifford Chance’s London office, where he was partner in the litigation and dispute resolution practice. Prior to that, he headed that firm’s litigation and dispute resolution practice in Asia, wherein he was based in Hong Kong from 1997 to 2006.
• Willox, an employment expert, joins the firm’s Perth practice to further strengthen the its national employment and dispute resolution teams. He joins from Freehills, where he was Perth practice leader of the company’s employee relations group. Willox has significant experience in industrial relations and occupational health and safety, particularly in the energy and resources sector.
Minter Ellison has appointed three new partners in its Hong Kong office with the addition of leading capital markets and M&A lawyers Barbara Mok, Anne Ko and Katherine U. They joined as partners from Jones Day, where they were recognised as leaders in the areas of capital markets and M&A with a long track record of working on deals in the HK and China market. Among the three of them, they have nearly 70 years experience and knowledge in their area of specialization.
• Mok specialises in China-focused M&As, having worked for issuers and sponsors in relation to listings on the HKSE, as well as private equity transactions.
• Ko focuses on equity offerings on the HKSE and advising listed companies on regulatory compliance, securities law, and corporate finance matters. She also advises on M&As and general corporate and commercial matters.
• U specialises in cross-border investments, M&As in Hong Kong and mainland China. She also advises local and Chinese issuers and investment banks on HKSE listings and secondary fund-raisings, takeovers, and privatizations of Hong Kong-listed companies. |
