London-based Trowers & Hamlins has expanded its Singapore team with the addition of banking and finance partner Chuan How Tan, who has joined from DFDL.
Abdulhaq Mohammed, head of Asia and the Singapore office’s managing partner, told Asia Business Law Journal that one of his firm’s priorities was to ensure that it was able to demonstrate an understanding of regional markets and its international offices were built around being locally connected with homegrown client bases.
“Our priority markets in Asia include Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam … Chuan How has the type of experience and understanding of Asean markets that we are looking for,” said Mohammed.
Trowers & Hamlins was the first foreign law firm to obtain a qualified foreign law firm licence to open a branch in Malaysia in 2015, with the UK firm having also received its foreign law practice licence last year to operate in Singapore for the expansion of its Asia presence.
Tan, who has joined a Singapore team of six lawyers, specialises in advising international commercial and institutional lenders as well as corporate borrowers on cross-border banking and financing transactions in the Asean region. These transactions include project financing, syndicated and structured financing and debt capital markets, with Tan’s expertise focusing on Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia.
He spent the earlier years of his legal career at firms including Kuala Lumpur-based Zaid Ibrahim & Co, where he was a senior associate. At DFDL, which he joined in 2018 and later became a partner, Tan practised as a co-head of the Cambodia banking and finance practice group and was among the roles he had at the firm.
