A significant spike in investigations-related work in Asia has Herbert Smith beefing up its disputes and corporate investigations team. Its latest partner hire, Kyle Wombolt – an Asia-based US investigations specialist– will join the firm as its 76th Asia-based disputes lawyer.

“We have seen a major upswing in anti-corruption related investigations, largely due to an increasingly active enforcement environment,” Wombolt said. “Both the SEC and the Department of Justice in the United States have made clear their intentions to focus more resources in this area, particularly in Asian jurisdictions.”

According to Wombolt who worked in the Hong Kong office of US firm Goodwin Procter, different business cultures in Asia present challenges for western corporates operating in the region. “There has been a significant increase in investigations-related work in Asia over the past decade. Many of these investigations have a US law component driven by the ‘long-arm’ jurisdiction of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the US securities laws in general. Western and Asian government have encouraged this shift [towards compliance and corporate governance]. I expect this trend to continue over coming years,” he said.

Wombalth had been a partner in the Hong Kong office of Goodwin Procter since 2007. Before that he was a a securities litigator at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He is qualified in New York, California and Hong Kong.ALB

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