Goodwin Procter has hired corporate lawyers Andrew Yang and Christopher Yu as partners at the firm’s Hong Kong office.

Former Yahoo! Inc Asia-Pacific general counsel Jim Wu has left the Internet company to rejoin K&L Gates as a corporate partner in the firm’s Taipei and Palo Alto offices.

Maples and Calder has strengthened its Asian offering with the relocation of Shaun Denton from London to head the firm’s Hong Kong office.

Winston & Strawn has opened its doors in Taipei, adding to its existing Asian offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.

Yoon & Yang has hired Do Hyung Kim as a partner in the firm’s M&A group in Seoul.

Slaughter and May is advising Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) on its offer to buy Wing Hang Bank, one of Hong Kong’s last remaining family-owned banks, for $4.95 billion.

Latham & Watkins has boosted its Asian energy and resources expertise with the hire of David Blumental as a partner in the firm’s corporate department in Hong Kong.

Offshore law firm Maples and Calder has promoted 12 of its lawyers to the firm’s partnership globally, including James Gaden, Richard Grasby and Terence Ho in Hong Kong and Tom Katsaros in Singapore.

As Asia’s airline market soars to new heights, aircraft manufacturers are cashing in on a slew of new orders. Makers of smaller aircraft too are carving out a niche in the region, and are beginning to challenge their larger rivals in Southeast Asia, finds Kanishk Verghese. With additional reporting by Siva Govindasamy and Anshuman Daga of Reuters

Japan is one step closer to becoming a gaming hub after lawmakers submitted a draft plan in December to legalise integrated casino resorts in the island nation. If the legislation is approved, Japan may see its first casino in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which would create jobs, encourage tourism and help boost an economy encumbered with deflation and sluggish growth. International gaming operators are already laying out blueprints for casino resort projects in Japan, which, analysts predict, could become the world’s third largest gambling market. Kanishk Verghese reports with additional reporting by Nathan Layne and Junko Fujita of Reuters