Latham & Watkins LLP's Greater China restructuring and insolvency group has a strong debtor-side and creditor-side practice that is involved in matters across capital structures for borrowers, sponsors, institutional and distressed investors (individually and as ad hoc committees). The team offers local expertise in both public high-yield bonds and private bank debts. Recent mandates that the team has advised on include China Fortune Land Development and Hong Kong Airlines. The team is headed by Howard Lam , who regularly represents insolvency practitioners, bondholders, distressed funds and bank lenders. Flora Innes has vast experience in complex corporate restructures, insolvency proceedings, and cross-border disputes.

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Key clients

  • Hong Kong Airlines Limited
  • Beijing Gas
  • Huachen Energy Co., Ltd
  • Ad hoc group of bondholders in respect of Dafa Properties Group Limited
  • Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd
  • Private Bondholder of Shimao
  • Marketlend Pty Ltd

Lawyers

Leading partners
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Latham & Watkins LLP
Howard Lam advises clients in China and across Asia on restructuring, special situations, private credit, and banking finance transactions. In his restructuring practice, Mr. Lam draws on more than two decades of experience to guide all types of parties to a transaction, including: Creditors, particularly banks and credit funds Debtors Insolvency practitioners Bondholders He regularly helps clients resolve a full range of difficult matters, including restructuring, bankruptcy, as well as distressed and other special situations. As a Mandarin and Cantonese speaker, trained in Hong Kong, UK, and Australian law, he brings a multicultural, multijurisdictional perspective to his matters. Familiar with the internal motivations and sensitivities of parties on all sides of a matter, he can help clients choose the best jurisdictions and legal regimes for implementing restructurings. He complements his creative problem-solving and decisive recommendations with an ability to remain even-keeled and diffuse tension in high-stakes situations, and so bring parties together around a solution. Mr. Lam is an INSOL Fellow and a regular speaker at international restructuring and insolvency conferences, and has served on the APLMA China and documentation committees, TMA Hong Kong board, and the executive committee of Restructuring and Insolvency Faculty (RIF). In Mr. Lam’s financing practice, he advises private equity sponsors, banks, and private capital lenders on a full spectrum of complex financing structures, including: Leveraged buy-outs Corporate acquisition financings China onshore/offshore financing Margin loans Direct lending transactions He draws on a keen sense of what is at market and insights from the firm’s global deal flow on cutting-edge financing terms to translate best practices in global jurisdictions to deals Asia.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Howard Lam

Other key lawyers

Flora Innes