Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw Launches Hong Kong Office

Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw Launches Hong Kong Office

December 19, 2006

- Jeffrey H. Chen Hired to Spearhead the Firm's Asian
Securitization and 
Structured Finance Practice -


    HONG KONG, Nov. 29 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Mayer, Brown,
Rowe & Maw LLP 
has received its operating license from the Law Society of
Hong Kong and will 
officially open its doors in the Landmark Building of Hong
Kong's Central 
Business District on January 1, 2007.  Initially, the Hong
Kong office will 
focus on securitization and structured finance throughout
Asia, but will soon 
provide a broad range of legal services to local Asian
companies seeking 
advice regarding the U.S. and Europe, and to foreign
companies operating in 
Asia.  

    "Our primary goal is to provide clients with a
base in China to develop 
integrated growth between the United States, Europe and
Asia," said Ty 
Fahner, Chairman, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw.
"Additionally, the firm intends 
to assist Chinese companies looking to grow
internationally.  It promises to 
be a rewarding endeavor for the firm and its current and
future global 
clients alike."

    Jeffrey H. Chen, formerly a partner with Jones Day in
Hong Kong, has 
joined Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw to grow the firm's
Asian capabilities. Mr. 
Chen, a finance partner specializing in securitization, is
recognized in the 
2007 directories of IFLR 1000 and Chambers Global as a
leading lawyer in his 
field.  He will work alongside senior London corporate
partner, Stephen 
Bottomley, who is relocating to Hong Kong.   

    "Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw is one of the top
securitization and structured 
finance firms in the world," commented Chen. 
"The firm is at the front line 
of every legal, regulatory and accounting development and
reform in the 
industry.  The firm has established an impressive network
of clients and 
contacts in the United States and Europe and the arrival in
Asia gives me an 
unparalleled opportunity to integrate my practice with this
leading 
structured finance firm." 

    Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw has pioneered
securitization and structured 
finance since the practice's inception in the 1970s.  The
firm has dominated 
the field in the U.S. and Europe where it has been a
leading force in every 
type of product innovation in developed markets and at the
vanguard of 
transactions in emerging markets of Eastern Europe, the
Middle East, Africa 
and Latin America. Attorneys at the firm authored The
Securitization of 
Financial Assets, the leading treatise on asset
securitization used by 
lawyers worldwide, and created and sponsor the highly
regarded website 
http://www.securitization.net .  The lawyers in the
securitization group are 
also experts in Basel II, Regulation AB and the Securities
Offering Reform. 

    "We are prepared to bring the entirety of Mayer,
Brown, Rowe & Maw's 
unmatched securitization expertise to the Asian
markets," commented Paul 
Maher, London Senior Partner and Vice-Chairman elect. 
"Part of the firm's 
strategy is to ensure that we are able to surpass our
clients expectations in 
locations that are increasingly important to their
business. We feel that 
having two highly respected partners in Jeff and Stephen
gives us the best 
possible start." 

    The Hong Kong office expands the firm's Asian
footprint.  For more than 
eight years Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw's Global Trade
Practice has operated a 
consulting office in Mainland China under the name MBP
Consulting.  The 
Global Trade Practice, which includes several former trade
negotiators and 
senior U.S. Government policy officials, including former
U.S. Secretary of 
Commerce Mickey Kantor, has provided support to a diverse
group of 
multinational clients ranging from real estate, financial
services and 
insurance to energy, pharmaceuticals and mining.  The group
advises in a 
variety of areas in China including developing market-entry
strategies, 
identifying local partners for joint ventures, identifying
investment 
opportunities, securing regulatory approvals, and
developing and executing 
strategies to address market access barriers. 

    "The Hong Kong office will significantly broaden
the capabilities we'll 
be able to offer both our U.S. and European clients,"
said Peter Scher, head 
of the Global Trade Group and chair of the firm's China
Task Force.  "We look 
forward to working closely with Jeff and Stephen to
identify key areas for 
growth throughout Asia." 

    The firm's license takes effect on December 1, 2006,
and the office 
expects to be fully operational early in the first quarter
of 2007.  

    About Jeffrey Chen and Stephen Bottomley:

    Jeffrey H. Chen has experience throughout Asia and the
U.S. working with 
both local and multi-national companies, focusing on
cross-border financing 
structures of all kinds and on engineering various types of
hybrid 
instruments. He is also experienced in various local laws
across Asian 
jurisdictions and coordinates local law compliance issues
such as netting and 
collateral across the region.  In recent years, Mr. Chen
has advised on a 
number of award-winning transactions out of South Korea,
Taiwan and China.

    Stephen Bottomley, a partner in the London office since
1988, advises on 
a wide range of corporate matters, specializing in
corporate finance, M&A and 
venture capital work and in particular advising on London
AIM admissions. He 
has been acknowledged as a leader in his field by both the
Chambers UK and 
The UK Legal 500 directories as well as being recommended
for corporate and 
M&A work in the PLC Cross-border M&A Handbook
2006/7.  Stephen will relocate 
to Hong Kong to head up the new office in January 2007.  

    Notes to editors:

    --  Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP is an
international legal practice 
        delivering advice to leading companies, financial
institutions and 
        multi-national businesses in 14 major cities
worldwide, including 
        London, Chicago, New York, Washington, Frankfurt
and Paris. 

    --  The international reach of the firm is further
enhanced through its 
        trade consulting office in Beijing, a correspondent
relationship in 
        Mexico and an alliance with a leading Italian law
firm giving access 
        to both Italian and Eastern European markets.

    --  The firm currently has over 500 partners and more
than 1,400 lawyers 
        working together to focus its global legal
provision around primary 
        industry and practice groups.  Working
collaboratively with clients to
        understand the business environment in which they
operate ensures 
        that they receive commercial legal solutions that
help them achieve 
        their objectives and success in their businesses. 

    --  The firm recently announced the creation of an
'Office of the 
        Chairman' to take effect from June 1, 2007, with
the appointment of 
        James D. Holzhauer as the firm's Chairman and
partners Kenneth S. 
        Geller and Paul Maher as Vice-Chairmen. 

    --  Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP is a combination
of two limited liability
        partnerships, each named Mayer, Brown, Rowe &
Maw LLP, one 
        incorporated in England and one established in
Illinois, USA.

    --  For further information please visit:
http://www.mayerbrownrowe.com 
        or http://www.mayerbrownrowe.com/london .



    For more information, please contact:

     Stephen Bottomley, Partner
     Corporate Group, London
     Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

     Peter Scher, Partner
     Global Trade Group, Washington DC
     Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

     Will Hulbert
     Head of Marketing Communications, London
     Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

     Aimee Jasculca
     Public Relations Manager, Chicago
     Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 


SOURCE  Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP
; 42(5):585-594.