Don’t count on Mori Hamada being the first Japanese firm with an office in Singapore. There’s every chance it might be Nishimura & Asahi which received permission from the local authorities on Dec. 9, and aims to have a fully operational office by January next year.
The office will be the Japanese Big Four firm’s fourth outside Japan, to go with offices in Beijing, as well as in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in Vietnam. N&A said that demand from Japanese companies in Singapore, and its surrounding countries led to the decision to open an office in the island nation. “Since there has recently been a steady influx of Japanese businesses establishing offices in Singapore, we expect that this will generate an even greater amount of work than that which we currently receive from Singapore-based businesses,” said partner Kotaro Kubo, who will head the office.
N&A, which is currently focusing on real estate investment, asset finance, financial regulations and company acquisitions in Southeast Asia, has seen its Ho Chi Minh City office (set up in 2010) handle a number of major cross-border M&As, joint ventures, and business alliance deals. In Singapore, it is helping a major corporation transfer its headquarters from Japan to Singapore.
“We expect our Singapore office to be a hub for the network that we have been developing in South East Asian countries just like the hub it has become for the Asian businesses of many Japanese companies,” Kubo added.
The Singapore office will have only two or three lawyers initially, with the plan being to increase the number according to business requirements. Its focus will be on general corporate work involving neighboring countries, including other ASEAN nations and India, with an additional focus on arbitration at the SIAC and listings on the SGX. ALB
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