SINGAPORE - Walkers, the global offshore law firm of choice for leading financial
market participants and international law firms announced today it has
expanded its new Singapore office. Amid expectations of an increase in
offshore legal work in Singapore, particularly with regard to distressed
hedge funds, debt restructuring, and public-to-private deals, Walkers has
transferred senior funds attorney Laura Rogers from its Hong Kong office to
build on the team already in place in Singapore.
Walkers anticipates that investment funds clients in Asia may soon start
to face the same types of issues regarding illiquidity problems,
restructuring, and the potential liquidation of funds that the firm has seen
with its clients in Western markets and is adding staff to ensure that its
new and existing clients in Singapore are well served.
“Liquidity issues and extreme levels of redemption requests for funds are
currently less severe in Asia than the US and Europe have encountered,” said
Ashley Gunning, joint managing partner of Walkers’ Singapore office and head
of the investment funds group. “However, we anticipate these problems may
arrive in Asia in due course if markets continue to deteriorate. It is quite
possible that the impact in Asia will be less severe than it has been
elsewhere because Asian funds tend to be less leveraged and generally have
less complex investment strategies than funds in, for instance, the US.
However, in anticipation of challenging times we wanted to be sure we had the
right team in place.”
Ms. Rogers has worked extensively with funds clients and on other
corporate transactions in Hong Kong and Singapore, bringing more than seven
years of experience as an attorney in Asia. She specialises in hedge funds,
private equity funds, and providing general corporate advice and previously
worked in Walkers’ Hong Kong office. Prior to joining Walkers, she worked
with Allen and Overy, joining their London office in 1999 and moving to Hong
Kong in 2001.
“Laura brings valuable expertise in all aspects of funds work, as well as
specific experience working in Southeast Asia,” Mr. Gunning added. “Despite,
or even because of, the current economic climate, we are still seeing a
number of new fund launches in Singapore, both from existing and new players
in the market. It is now more important than ever that funds are structured
from the start with contingencies for stressed market conditions. Walkers’
clients receive the benefit of the expertise our team has accumulated working
with clients around the world in these more turbulent times.”
“With the investment funds industry at such a critical stage, it is a
particularly exciting time to join the new office in Singapore,” Ms. Rogers
commented. “I am very much looking forward to getting down to business and
helping our clients navigate the current difficult conditions. With the right
approach and the modern innovative techniques we have at our disposal to
manage illiquidity, I am confident that we can deal with any situation
arising as a result of these uncertain markets.”
Walkers’ Singapore office, offering both British Virgin Islands and
Cayman Islands legal services opened for business on February 2, 2009.
Walkers added the office in response to a significant demand for offshore
legal and corporate services both within Singapore and elsewhere in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations region. The Singapore office works
seamlessly with Walkers’ Hong Kong office, where there are approximately 20
practising lawyers.
About The Walkers Group
From offices in the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dubai, Hong
Kong, Jersey, London, and Singapore, the Walkers group provides legal and
management services to leading FORTUNE 100 and FTSE 100 global corporations
and financial institutions, capital markets participants, investment fund
managers, and growth- and middle-market companies.
The Walkers group is comprised of leading offshore law firm, Walkers;
fund services provider, Walkers Fund Services Limited; and SPV and corporate
services providers, Walkers SPV Limited, Walkers Corporate Services Limited
and Walkers (BVI) Limited.
Walkers was recently named “Offshore Law Firm of the Year 2009″ by PLC
Which Lawyer? and “Top Offshore Law Firm 2008″ by Alpha Magazine. Walkers was
also named “Offshore Law Firm of the Year” at the Asian Legal Business Hong
Kong Law Awards in 2007 and 2008. In 2006, Walkers was named as The Lawyer’s
Offshore Law Firm of the Year, the PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook Leading Cayman
Islands Law Firm and was one of two firms honoured as “Offshore Legal Team of
the Year” by the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). Walkers
was named the Who’s Who Legal Law Firm of the Year: Cayman Islands for 2006
and 2007.
For more information on the Walkers group, visit us on the web at
www.walkersglobal.com or contact us by e-mail at info@walkersglobal.com. To
contact Walkers’ Singapore office by phone, call +65-6622-5928 or email
Ashley.Gunning@walkersglobal.com or John.Rogers@walkersglobal.com.
Source: Walkers
Melissa Arnoff of Walkers, +1-202-973-1336
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