Mayer Brown announced yesterday (12 July) an expansion to its Corporate & Securities practice, with the addition of eight lawyers to its Hong Kong legal team.
The new recruits include four capital markets partners; Guiping Lu, Philip Hyde, Bonnie Yung and Jason Wang.
A release published by the firm detailed that the hire of new staff marked Mayer Brown's continued growth in capital markets in the key financial centres of New York, London and Hong Kong.
Jason T. Elder, Corporate & Securities partner and member of the firm's global Mangagement Committee (pictured) told FinanceAsia, "these hires represent Mayer Brown's continued commitment to Asia generally - and strong belief in the future of Hong Kong as an important financial centre for the Greater Bay region and beyond".
He explained that the law firm employs a number of initiatives to support its clients in the Greater Bay region and this recruitment process forms one of them.
Lu and Hyde join from K&L Gates, bringing with them experience in debt capital markets, while Yung and Wang move from LC Lawyers LLP. Both Yung and Wang were also previously based at Paul Hastings and bring to Mayer Brown backgrounds in equity capital markets, including involvement in Hong Kong IPOs.
Elder offered FA some perspective on the appetite for the Hong Kong public markets in the context of what could be viewed as a recent clampdown by Chinese regulators on domestic companies that have sought access to public markets overseas.
"The choice of listing venue has been a hot topic for several years, and has intensified. We are focused on ensuring top-quality service in all major markets, whether a company wants to list in Hong Kong, New York or London. Adding Bonnie and Jason to our team enhances our Hong Kong equity capital markets capabilities. We remain bullish on both the Hong Kong and U.S. markets, and expect clients to continue plans to list in Hong Kong and the United States”, he detailed.
He also commented on deal pipeline as the globe navigates the ongoing pandemic and turns a corner through successful vaccine rollout. "Despite the pandemic, capital markets activity has been very strong for both equity and debt, and we believe client demand will continue. "
Elder noted that while the initial phases of the pandemic in Asia resulted in a short period of high volatility and focus on liquidity, "that quickly shifted to equity deals in strategic sectors and debt deals designed to take advantage of low interest rates. As the world opens back up, the deal mix is changing but demand remains very strong.”
In the firm's public release, Terence Tung, senior partner added that the addition of the new partners and their team in Hong Kong indicated an exciting time of growth for the firm.
