9 May, 2019
FenXun Partners, the fastest growing law firm in China, announces today a team of eight lawyers has joined its finance & projects practice. The new joiners include twowell-regarded partners Shirley Wang and Grace Chen and their team of six associates, all joining FenXun from a prominent PRC Red Circle law firm.
Shirley Wang specialises in cross-border lending transactions, debt capital markets and asset securitization, including syndicated loans, project finance, export credit, corporate bonds (onshore and offshore), M&A and regulatory and compliance matters.
Shirley has over two decades of experience in representing domestic and multinational companies on their China inbound and outbound transactions, including deals in relation to the Belt and Road Initiative. Her clients include leading financial institutions and companies spanning across the energy, real estate, transportation, agriculture and aviation sectors. She has also acted as the external general legal counsel for financial institutions such as China Development Bank, The Export-Import Bank of China, Bank of China, China CITIC Bank, China Minsheng Bank, CNOOC Finance Corporation and China State Construction Finance.
Her representative matters include advising onproject finance of a HVDC transmission line project inthe South Asia Region; advising ona financing project for a power plant in theMiddle East Region; acting as PRC counsel for the Republic of Poland as the issuer on its issuance of Panda Bonds, the first sovereign Panda Bonds by a European country in the China Inter-bank Bond Market; acting as PRC counsel for The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. on its successful issuance of the first private placement financial Panda Bonds in the China Inter-bank Bond Market; and acting as PRC counsel for a number of Chinese banks in international credit loan transactions in connection with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Russia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Germany, Australia, Ethiopia and other markets.
Grace Chen is an experienced lawyer who focuses on the areas of banking and finance, corporate and M&A matters. Over the years, she has advised numerous banks and corporations on complex domestic and cross-border investment and financing activities, including syndicated loans, project finance and trade finance. Her broad industry experience encompasses advising clients across a wide range of sectors such as energy, mining, real estate, agriculture and manufacturing.
Commenting on the appointments, Yingzhe Wang, Managing Partner of FenXun Partners said, "The team’s addition is part of our wider transactional growth strategy to reinforce our leadership in this space. We have been ranked a leading Chinese firm for asset securitization projects and financial derivatives for many consecutive years by Chambers & Partners and other such authoritative legal ranking organizations. Our funds and M&A practices are also in the top tiers. We are very excited to welcome Shirley, Grace and their team to our office in Beijing. Their vast experience and knowledge nicely complement our existing finance & projects capabilities and will also bolster our ability to advise clients on deals in relation to Belt and Road countries.”
Shirley said, "I am thrilled to join such a fast growing firm such as FenXun Partners. The Firm and the Joint Operation it has established with Baker McKenzie offer me the ideal platform to better assist clients in the finance & projects practice. I am looking forward to collaborating with my global colleagues to provide our clients with combined Chinese and international law service as we bring their domestic and cross-border transactions to fruition.”
Grace said, “I am pleased to join FenXun Partners. Leveraging its Joint Operation platform jointly established with Baker McKenzie, it is a truly compelling global platform, which will help me deliver first-class, comprehensive legal services to clients. I’m excited by the opportunity to make a difference for our clients as they expand domestically and abroad.”
Milton Cheng, Managing Partner of Baker McKenzie's Hong Kong office, and also the Chair of a committee that oversees Baker McKenzie's offices and member firms in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea and Vietnam, said, "We would like to congratulate FenXun Partners on its continuing expansion, in particular this very impressive hire of Shirley, Grace and their team. The team’s arrival reflects our common goal to grow our market share in the cross-border transactional space. Looking ahead, we look forward to further expanding our capabilities in both breadth and depth across the region, to cement our position as a transactional powerhouse to be reckoned with.”
