IFLR Asia Best Lawyers 2020

IFLR Asia Best Lawyers 2020 recognises the top individual legal practitioners who have received the highest and most consistent praise from their peers and clients. It is the most definitive list of the best of the best in the Asia-Pacific region.

These market lawyers were identified using the 2000+ submissions to the IFLR1000 2021 rankings, backed up with an analysis of deal data, written submissions for individual lawyers and interviews with peers and clients over a four month period.  

Catherine Chen is an experienced practitioner at PRC law firm Zhong Lun. She acts for a range of private equity and venture capital clients on fund establishment, investments, equity raises, M&A and capital markets matters across industries such as education, healthcare, energy, media and financial services.

In recent times, Chen has assisted in fund raising and provided legal fund structuring advice on IDG Capital’s tourism industry fund, Cathay Capital’s new energy fund, and Lilly Asia Ventures’ biomedical funds. She has also taken the lead for her clients in various funding rounds for CStone Pharmaceuticals, Curon and Everest Medicine.

Interview

Victor Chang is partner and head of the cross-border group at Taiwanese law firm LCS & Partners. He is a highly experienced transactional lawyer who is routinely engaged on M&A, private equity and fund formation mandates across the technology and healthcare industries.

Chang recently acted for Quaser Machine Tools on its $95 million acquisition of Winbro Group; Bora Pharmaceutical on its acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline’s Canadian facility in Mississauga; and internet platform Sea on its $1.35 billion offering of American depositary shares.

Charles Li is a highly experienced and active transactional partner at Chinese law firm Han Kun, where he routinely handles M&A and private equity deals, corporate restructuring mandates, and equity and debt financings across the technology and telecommunications, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods industries.

In the past year, he took the lead in acting as PRC counsel to Heineken in forming a strategic partnership with China Resources. He also acted on joint-ventures, disposals and acquisitions in the logistics, financial services, electronics, media and real estate sectors; and assisted his clients in various investments and funding rounds.

Li was also active advising underwriters and issuers on their overseas listings in Hong Kong SAR and New York, such as Futu Holdings' offering of American depository shares and Hevol Services Group's Hong Kong IPO. He also advised Tencent Holdings in its $6 billion bond issue and advised on the issuance of convertible notes.

Interview

Zhang Jiping is a seasoned practitioner who heads of Haiwen & Partners’ M&A team. With prior experience working at US law firms, Zhang has become an expert in handling M&A, foreign direct investment, capital markets and project financing mandates.

He has recently been busy advising companies and banks in their investments and acquisitions across the insurance, healthcare and consumer goods industries. Jiping has also been preoccupied advising issuers and underwriters in their listings in Hong Kong SAR and New York.

Interview

Sandra Lu is a partner at Llinks Law Offices. She has expertise in retail funds, private funds and asset management and routinely handles these matters for Chinese banks, insurance companies, securities firms and trust companies.

Lu has been active in the development of the global investment capability of Chinese FMCs and has been advising Hong Kong fund managers in their mutual recognition fund (MRF) applications with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

Recently, she advised Broad Investment Management on setting up a new fund management company; JPMorgan Funds (Asia) on gaining CSRC authorisation for its Northbound MRF; and Aberdeen Standard Asset Management (Shanghai) Company in its Qualified Domestic Limited Partnership (QDLP) licence application.

Guanxiong Wu is a partner and head of Tian Yuan Law Firm’s education team. He is a highly experienced practitioner routinely engaged in investment funds, equity capital markets and private equity mandates.

Over the past year, Wu has worked on several technology company listings on Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Star Market and Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s GEM board; and he advised Genshuixue Education on its listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

Wu’s funds practice has also been active as he helped initiate the Rmb2.5 billion CICC Capital education industry fund project, and advised China Asset Management on the first reported science and technology innovation board theme fund.

Interview

Janice Lin is a highly experienced partner at Tsar & Tsai routinely engaged in M&A, joint ventures, IPOs and financing mandates across the high-tech, manufacturing, retail, energy and financial services industries.

Over the past year, Lin has kept busy advising a consortium of 20 banks including Taiwan Life, HSBC, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank and Cathay United Bank on the $2 billion project financing of the 376 MW Formosa 2 offshore wind project; and a consortium of 19 banks on the $3 billion financing of the 640MW WPD Yunlin offshore wind power project.

She has also been active in investments and acquisitions in renewable energy and assisted Norwegian company Kongsberg Gruppen acquire Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine for $525 million.

Interview

Hoil Yoon is a managing partner of Yoon & Yang in Seoul, Korea, which is one of the largest law firms in Korea, with over 440 attorneys and other professionals. His law practice concentrates on antitrust, international business transactions, and international litigation and arbitration. He has worked extensively with respect to cartels, dominance abuse, mergers and acquisitions, and unfair trade practices; distribution, pricing, and the intersection of intellectual property and antitrust; antitrust litigation; and international commercial/corporate litigation and arbitration.

Prior to establishing Yoon & Partners (a predecessor of Yoon & Yang) in 1989, Hoil practiced law in the US as a partner of Baker & McKenzie for 10 years. He served as a member of the board of directors of the Korean Bar Association, an ambassador for International Economy and Trade of the Korean government, a non-standing commissioner of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, and a judge of the Seoul Civil District Court.

Hoil was the chairman of the Asia Competition Association and the chairman of the section of antitrust law of the Seoul Bar Association. He was also a member of the competition policy advisory board of the KFTC until 2013. He was the vice chair of the international committee of the Korean Bar Association. He is a member of the ABA's section of antitrust law where he was a member of the international cartel task force and of the international task force. From 2005 to 2009 he was the chairman of the Korea Competition Forum. Since 2002 he has been serving as a non-governmental adviser to the International Competition Network.

Interview

Name partner Youdy Bun heads the banking and finance, corporate and M&A and the telecommunication practices at Bun & Associates. His vast experience includes advising an array of domestic and foreign clients on matters such as financings, acquisitions, bond issues and market entry advice. He serves as a member of the Executive Board at European Chamber of Commerce of Cambodia and also sits on the panels of several foreign banks active in Cambodia. Additionally, he has been recognised as a Market Leader by IFLR1000.

Recently, he has worked on the issue and listing of a landmark corporate bond and has also assisted the borrowers in a first of its kind financing in the natural resources space.

Prashant Gupta is a partner in the firm’s corporate department, focusing primarily on capital markets transactions. He represents both issuers and underwriters in various equity and debt capital raising transactions, including initial public offerings, rights issues and QIP offerings, buy-backs, capital restructurings and pre-IPO private placements. He has advised on capital markets transactions that have raised over $50 billion globally, which include both the largest IPO and bond offerings out of India, as well as the largest secondary trade on the stock exchanges in India.

Prashant has been recently recognised by The Economic Times in the prestigious ‘ET 40 under forty’ list of India’s ‘hottest business leaders’ in 2019. He has been recognised by IFLR in the list of “Asia’s Top Lawyers” in 2019 and 2020 and in IBLJ’s A-List of India’s Top 100 Lawyers since 2018. He has been recognised by Who’s Who Legal, Chambers, IFLR1000 and Legal500 and other legal industry publications as one of the leading capital markets practitioners in India. He has been recognized among the Who’s Who Legal “Thought Leaders: Global Elite 2020” for capital markets. He is one of only three Band 1 ranked capital markets lawyers in India in Chambers Global 2020 and has been rated as a “Market Leader” by IFLR1000 in 2018-2020. Chambers Asia Pacific Guide 2019 says: “Prashant Gupta enjoys a formidable reputation in the market, with one client commenting: ‘I think he’s on top of his game now. I like his decisiveness in taking a position on Indian law. He comes across as resourceful and confident.’ His counsel is frequently sought by issuers and underwriters on equity and debt issuances.”

Prashant has advised on equity and bond offerings by issuers across various industries, including Apollo Tyres, Azure Power, Amira Nature Foods, AU Small Finance Bank, Bharti Airtel, CL Educate, Coal India, DEN Networks, DLF, Dr Lals Pathlabs, Eris Lifesciences, Eros International, Federal Bank, HPCL-Mittal Energy, IDFC, IndiaMart, InterGlobe Aviation, Jubilant Foodworks, Lemon Tree Hotels, MakeMyTrip, ONGC, PVR, Power Grid Corporation, PNB Housing Finance, SBI Cards and Payments Services, S Chand & Co, Network18/TV18, TCNS Clothing, Vedanta, Varroc Engineering, Videocon d2h, and Yes Bank.

Prashant received his bachelor of arts in jurisprudence and his master’s in jurisprudence from the University of Oxford, England, and his bachelor of commerce degree from the Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi.

Interview

Shardul Shroff serves as the Executive Chairman at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and boasts nearly four decades of experience in a variety of practice areas including banking and finance, corporate and M&A, capital markets and restructuring and insolvency. Throughout his career, he has taken part in the development of several corporate law reforms and recently served as a member of the Insolvency Law Committee. He is also a recipient of the National Law Day Award from the President of India, in recognition for his contribution to corporate law. Additionally, he has been recognised as a Market Leader by IFLR1000.

During the research period, he notable advised the committee of creditors on the landmark insolvency resolution processes of Essar Steel and Bhushan Energy.

Adrian Chair is an experienced practitioner at Malaysian firm Adnan Sundra & Low. He has expertise in various practice areas, including project finance and development, corporate and M&A, and private equity. Chair has taken on clients from an array of sectors including TMT, oil and gas, energy, financial services, utilities, and transport.

Recently, Chair advised PTT Exploration and Production in the high profile acquisition of Murphy Oil Corporation’s oil and gas assets in Malaysia. The deal stands out as one of the largest oil and gas deals in the Asian region in the past five years.

Interview

Deepak Sadasivan serves as the managing partner of Malaysian firm Adnan Sundra & Low. He has extensive experience in banking and finance and capital markets matters such as Islamic finance, project finance, structured finance and derivatives. He has been recognised as a Market Leader by IFLR1000.

A recent highlight saw him advising CIMB Investment Bank on the establishment of IJM Land’s Sukuk (Islamic bond) programme in an award-winning deal. Another award-winning mandate saw Sadasivan assisting the principal advisers on establishing Zamarad Assets’ Sukuk Murabahah (deferred sale) asset-backed securitisation programme.

Interview

Elmer B Serrano boasts over two decades of experience and heads the mergers and acquisitions practice group at Filipino law firm Martinez Vergara Gonzalez & Serrano. His expertise cover banking and finance, M&A and capital markets across a range of sectors including banking and financial services, gaming, real estate, and shipping.

During the research period, he notably advised BDO Unibank on the largest ever single Peso bond issuance by a Philippine bank to date. Another highlight saw him advising BDO Unibank in upsizing its medium-term note (MTN) programme.

Interview

Rafael Morales serves as the managing partner of Philippine law firm Morales & Justiniano and is recognised as a Market Leader by IFLR1000. His significant experience includes advising on matters related to banking and finance, capital markets and M&A across sectors such as real estate, banking and financial services, and energy. Prior to joining the firm, he served as the managing partner of SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan.

Interview

Vo Ha Duyen serves as chairperson of Vietnamese law firm VILAF. She advises clients such as issuers, foreign investors, private equity funds, fintech companies and banks on a wide range of matters including project financings, derivatives, and mergers and acquisitions. Her experience spans multiple industries including, aviation, oil and gas, energy, real estate, and pharmaceuticals.

She recently advised B Grimm Power on a large acquisition of solar projects. She also acted as counsel to the arranger on the high-value financing of the Vung Ang 2 BOT power project.