UK-headquartered law firm, Ashurst, has announced the appointment of Tom Wilson as special council within its International Projects Group in Tokyo. Subject to being approved as a registered foreign lawyer under Japanese law (“Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi”), Wilson will become partner, the announcement said.
Wilson joins from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) where he advised governments across Asia on public-private partnership (PPP) projects. Prior to joining ADB, he worked for Latham & Watkins and White & Case, and has been based in Tokyo, Singapore and Jakarta.
Separately, the firm announced the recruitment of Chiam Tao Koon as head of M&A for Southeast Asia at Ashurst ADTLaw, based in Singapore. Chiam was most recently a partner at Allen & Gledhill, which he joined in 2008.
Chiam brings with him his team from Allen & Gledhill, namely, Ko Xiaozheng and Choo Yi Ming, former corporate partners, and George Kho, former counsel.
"These additions are part of our long-term commitment to the region and consistent with other hires that we have made recently in Asia. This appointment enables us to build on our existing capabilities in the region and to capture more cross border opportunities into and out of Southeast Asia,” Josh Cole, Ashurst's Asia head of corporate transactions, told FinanceAsia.
The new hires will advise clients including sovereign wealth funds, REITs and private equity firms, specialising in Singapore outbound M&A transactions into jurisdictions such as Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam, Cole explained. He said that this reflects the firm’s “determination and commitment to become the leading international firm advising on cross-border and complex transactions in the region."
ADTLaw is a Singaporean boutique commercial law in formal alliance with Ashurst. It provides clients with Singapore-law advice, primarily in the area of dispute resolution. Ashurst is licensed to operate as a foreign law practice in Singapore, a spokesperson for Ashurst explained.
Following the new appointments, the firm's Southeast Asia corporate and M&A practice has 9 lawyers, of which 6 are partners, the spokesperson confirmed.
Other appointments in APAC by the firm include that of Jean Woo as Singapore office managing partner, and Yan Yuan as a corporate M&A and private equity partner, in Shanghai.
The firm also hired dispute resolution partner, Alexander Dmitrenko, in Tokyo earlier this year.
