Nikkei Asia further report on the dog days of HK’s preminence in law…
Or as Motorhead once sang…
HONG KONG — Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, a U.S. law firm that has boosted its global prominence this year through its work on behalf of Credit Suisse AT1 bondholders, plans to set up shop in Singapore, joining a wave of international law firms seeking business in the Southeast Asian hub.
Founding partner John Quinn said the firm has applied for a foreign law practice license in the city-state and expected to be operational at the end of this year.
“There’s a lot of capital being deployed, there’s a lot of money coming in and going out. In the case of Singapore, you have Chinese money, high net worth Chinese people moving there,” Quinn told Nikkei Asia in an interview.
“It’s a world city,” he said. “[Singapore] is a springboard to Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. It’s just an increasingly important place and we’re probably overdue in being there.”
Quinn Emanuel, known for its disputes and arbitration practice, is helping investors who lost $23.3 billion on Credit Suisse AT1 bonds after its takeover by UBS to sue Swiss financial regulator FINMA, and has been involved in the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
The U.S. law firm also set up in Beijing in March, bucking a trend that has seen many foreign law firms scaling back their operations in China amid rising political tensions while hiring in Singapore.
At least a half-dozen foreign law firms have come to Singapore in recent months, hoping to capitalize on wealthy Chinese shifting their fortunes offshore or diversifying their businesses into Southeast Asia, lawyers say.
Korea’s Shin & Kim and U.S. firm Greenberg Traurig both opened Singapore offices in April. RPC added merger and acquisition services to its Singapore practice. Even Beijing-headquartered Han Kun Law opened its first international office in Singapore, looking to serve clients investing in China.
“There is a tremendous amount of buzz and excitement,” said Evan Jowers, head of recruitment firm Lateral Link’s Asia office. “It could in the long term surpass [Hong Kong] as the biggest legal hub in Asia,” he said, adding that might take over a decade.
In China, Latham & Watkins closed its Shanghai office this year while Ropes & Gray downsized operations. In the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, U.S. and British law firms are trimming staff as business dries up amid rising tensions between China and Western countries and a slowing Chinese economy.
