King & Wood Mallesons has hired Hanim Hamzah, former Asia-Pacific head for legal services at KPMG Law, as an international partner for business development. Her addition comes just months after KPMG Law and Malaysia-headquartered ZICO Law ended their merger in April.
Hamzah brings nearly 30 years of legal experience to the PRC firm’s Beijing office. She specialises in infrastructure project financing, M&A and cross-border securitisation, with experience working in Japan, Indonesia, the UK and Malaysia.
She will officially join King & Wood Mallesons on 1 July, assisting the firm in expanding its international business and supporting clients’ cross-border needs. The firm’s global COO Wang Rongkang, stated in the press release: “[Hamzah] will greatly strengthen our competitiveness, particularly in Southeast Asia. ”
KPMG Law, which is the legal services arm of Big Four accounting firm KPMG, merged with ZICO Law for about two years before their recent split.
Hamzah has been a key figure in their combination; she was the former regional managing partner at ZICO Law, leading 275 lawyers from 18 Southeast Asian cities to join KPMG Law. Their addition has expanded KPMG’s legal network to 84 countries and regions.
After the merger, she became KPMG Law’s Asia-Pacific regional leader for legal services and head of Indonesia’s corporate M&A practice group.
In the past two years, KPMG has gradually scaled back its legal services, with its Hong Kong legal branch, SF Lawyers, closing last year.
