Tiang & Partners named in Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024 in Hong Kong and South Korea

January 2024

Tiang & Partners has been once again recognised by Legal 500, an independent publication which ranks top legal firms and practitioners in over 150 jurisdictions.

In the Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024 edition, the firm has achieved five firm rankings and nine lawyer recommendations. Of particular note, both of our Structured Finance & Securitisation team and Aviation Finance team have received firm rankings as well as individual mentions for each team member. Our Investment Team received a higher firm ranking than the last edition.

A summary of the rankings is as follows:

Ranked practices:

• Structured Finance and Securitisation in Hong Kong – Tier 2
• Antitrust and Competition in Hong Kong – Tier 3
• Asset Finance: Aviation Finance in Hong Kong – Tier 3
• Investment Funds in Hong Kong – Tier 4
• Capital Markets: Foreign Firms in South Korea – Tier 4

Ranked individuals:

Hong Kong

• Michelle Taylor – Structured Finance and Securitisation in Hong Kong – Leading Individual
• Tejaswi Nimmagadda – Asset Finance: Aviation Finance in Hong Kong – Next Generation Partner
• Martyn Huckerby – Antitrust and Competition in Hong Kong – Recommended Individual
• Gaven Cheong – Investment Funds in Hong Kong – Recommended Individual
• Nai Kwok – Asset Finance: Aviation Finance in Hong Kong – Recommended Individual
• Kevin Tsang – Structured Finance and Securitisation in Hong Kong – Recommended Individual
• David Law – Structured Finance and Securitisation in Hong Kong – Recommended Individual

South Korea

• Michelle Taylor – Capital Markets: Foreign Firms in South Korea – Recommended Individual
• Kevin Tsang – Capital Markets: Foreign Firms in South Korea – Recommended Individual

Legal 500 reviews:

• At Tiang & Partners, the ‘excellent’ team is highly regarded for its adept solutions in the securitisation space. Michelle Taylor stands at the helm of the practice and is renowned for her work within the South Korean securitisation market, in addition to the collaboration with the transport finance team, particularly concerning aviation-related future flow receivables transactions. Predominantly focused on bank-centred clients, the team also excels in arranging cross-border transactions for Korean issuers, often centred around consumer loans, like credit card receivables. (Hong Kong: Structured Finance and Securitisation)
• In cooperation with PwC, Tiang & Partners handles a broad range of issues, including merger control filings, regulatory investigations, and compliance programmes involving dawn raid training. Martyn Huckerby works out of both the Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, and advises on numerous merger filings, compliance issues, and dawn raids. Huckerby has broad expertise spanning the telecoms, education, and TMT sectors. (Hong Kong: Antitrust and Competition)
• With a fine record in advising on various aircraft financing transactions, such as restructuring, lease financing, and LIBOR transition, particularly those involving China, and the capability to draw upon the expertise of its offices across the Asia Pacific and Australia, the team at Tiang & Partners continues to assist a diverse client base, which includes banks, corporations, and high-net-worth individuals. A significant aspect highly valued by clients is the firm’s association with PwC, which provides the team with ‘access to a lot of industry knowledge’ by leveraging the expertise of PwC professionals in areas such as tax and accounting. Praised as a ‘commercial and innovative practitioner’, Tejaswi Nimmagadda leads the team and frequently represents financiers, lessors, airlines, and operators, making him especially well-equipped to provide guidance on intricate bespoke mandates, including those related to ESG and sanctions matters. (Hong Kong: Asset Finance – Aviation Finance)
• Since the arrival in October 2021 of the ‘very knowledgeable and commercial’ Gaven Cheong from Simmons & Simmons, Tiang & Partners has gained increased visibility in the market on behalf of fund managers in the alternative investment space, including in relation to hedge fund matters. The team has, however, gained most traction within the digital assets space, where team head Cheong’s ‘deep understanding of crypto funds’ coupled with the firm’s cooperation with PwC ensures that clients ‘get the benefit of both top shelf legal and non-legal advice on the crypto industry in a one-stop-shop environment’. (Hong Kong: Investment Funds)
• Praised as a ‘go-to firm for cross-border securitisations’, Tiang & Partners advises on a broad range of advisory and regulatory financial services mandates. Securitisation expert Michelle Taylor leads the team from Hong Kong, while Kevin Tsang and the practice focus on future and loan receivables, as well as working on complex floating and fixed rate notes. Another key team member is senior solicitor David Law. (South Korea: Capital Markets – Foreign Firms)

Testimonials:

Hong Kong

Structured Finance and Securitisation

• ‘Michelle Taylor and her team are really excellent. The team provides legal services on a timely basis and successfully closed many difficult and complex transactions by collaborating with their global network.’
• ‘Michelle Taylor is an excellent partner in the firm and she is quite a famous lawyer in the area. David Law is the one of their most excellent lawyers in their firm. His services were really supportive and helpful.’
• ‘The team, led by Michelle Taylor and supported by counsel Kevin Tsang and senior solicitor David Law, provides quality legal advice, efficient deal execution and sound commercial judgement.’

Antitrust and Competition

• ‘I find them to be very capable, easy to work with, and reliable both in timeliness and quality of advice.’

Asset Finance: Aviation Finance

• ‘Tejaswi Nimmagadda, who leads Tiang & Partners’ asset finance practice, is a commercial and innovative practitioner, and is supported by a strong team.’
• ‘Tejaswi Nimmagadda is my primary contact at the firm and is the most commercial and proactive legal counsel I have ever worked with. In addition to being technically strong, Tejaswi always considers the commercial aspects of transactions and has at times identified commercial opportunities that I myself had not considered.’
• ‘The firm’s partnership with PwC give them access to a lot of industry knowledge.’

Investment Funds

• ‘The firm is technically excellent, highly responsive and solutions oriented.’
• ‘Gaven Cheong is unquestionably the most knowledgeable crypto funds lawyer operating in the Hong Kong market right now. He has a very solid background in the hedge fund industry coupled with deep understanding of the digital asset space, which is a formidable combination.’
• ‘The team is known for being one of the strongest crypto asset investment fund practices in the Hong Kong market. Their unique collaboration with the PwC crypto advisory practice means that clients get the benefit of both top shelf legal and non-legal advice on the crypto industry in a one-stop environment.’

South Korea

Capital Markets: Foreign Firms

• ‘Michelle Taylor is highly knowledgeable when it comes to Korean ABS transactions, and is great with adapting transaction documents to the relevant change in structure.’
• ‘This team is the go-to firm for Korean cross-border securitisations and have worked on the vast majority of the deals originating from Korean credit card companies, auto-loan financiers and airlines in the last 20 years. The team is extremely knowledgeable, commercial, easy to work with and very efficient on deal execution.’
• ‘The team is well-experienced in the Korean ABS transaction space, and transactions with this team are usually efficient and well-organised.’