Cadwalader Adds Leading Structured Finance Lawyer to Hong Kong Office

NEW YORK, August 9, 2011 -

- Jeffrey H. Chen Joins Partnership

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, a leading counselor to global financial institutions and corporations, today announced that Jeffrey H. Chen, a preeminent lawyer in structured finance and derivatives, has joined the firm’s Hong Kong office as Partner.  Mr. Chen, formerly with Mayer Brown JSM in Hong Kong, will be a part of the Capital Markets team.

“Jeff is a highly regarded capital markets lawyer.  He brings to Cadwalader extensive knowledge of and experience with complex structured finance products,” said Christopher White, Chairman of Cadwalader. “With great talent like Jeff, we continue to develop our full suite of debt, equity and hybrid capital markets services to clients throughout Asia.  We look forward to his contributions to the Firm and to Cadwalader’s continued growth and success in Asia.”

“Jeff is experienced in limited recourse financing structures of all types, including asset-backed loans and asset-backed securities,” stated Rocky Lee, Head of Cadwalader’s Asia practice.  ”He has pioneered limited recourse receivables financing in mainland China under existing PRC law.  I am honored to welcome him to our Office and our Firm,” he said.  

Mr. Chen has advised on many of the headline structured finance transactions in Asia over the past decade, including Huarong AMC NPLs, Samsung Life RMBS, HKMC’s cross-border Korean securitizations, and more recently a slew of complex structured notes and derivatives litigation arising out of the global Lehman bankruptcy proceedings.

“Cadwalader will be by far the best platform that I will have ever worked on in my career in structured finance,” says Mr. Chen.  ”The firm is absolutely top-tier in this practice area globally, and I am delighted to have the opportunity of spear-heading the firm’s structured finance initiatives into Asia.”

“Our European capital markets clients with interests in Asia will benefit greatly from Jeff’s breadth of experience on the ground in Hong Kong,” said Angus Duncan, Managing Partner of Cadwalader’s London office.

Mr. Chen is an active participant in several industry associations, including the Asia-Pacific Legal & Regulatory Committee of the International Swaps & Derivatives Association (ISDA) and the China Securitization Forum (CSF).  He is a member of the Professional Advisory Board, Asian Institute of International Financial Law, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong.

Mr. Chen received a B.A. and an M.A. in History from the University of Michigan and graduated from George Washington University with his law degree. He is licensed to practice law in Washington, D.C., New York and Hong Kong.  

About Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, established in 1792, is one of the world’s leading international law firms, with offices in New York, Washington, Charlotte, Houston, London, Brussels, Hong Kong and Beijing.  Cadwalader serves a diverse client base, including many of the world’s top financial institutions, undertaking business in more than 50 countries in six continents.  The firm offers legal expertise in antitrust, banking, business fraud, corporate finance, corporate governance, environmental, financial restructuring and reorganizations, healthcare, intellectual property, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, private client, private equity, real estate, regulation, securitization, structured finance, and tax.  More information about Cadwalader can be found at www.cadwalader.com.

Jennifer Mao-Jones, +852-9688-3364, jennifer.maojones at cwt.com, Daniel DelRe, +1-212-850-5725, daniel.delre at fd.com, or Adam Segall, +1-212-504-6492, adam.segall at cwt.com