3 3月 2021

Linklaters appoints Hwang Hwa Sim as Global Head of Capital Markets

Linklaters has appointed Hwang Hwa Sim as Global Practice Head - Capital Markets for a four year term. He will succeed Michael Voisin whose tenure in the role ends on the 30th of April this year.
 
Paul Lewis, Global Head of Finance at Linklaters, said:

“Hwang Hwa has extensive experience in advising on and the development of, the full spectrum of complex and innovative capital markets transactions, fundraisings and investments across Asia and beyond. We are confident that Hwang Hwa will lead the global capital markets team’s on-going sustainable growth by continuing to be trusted advisors to our clients and by being market leaders in product innovation. The global capital markets are going through an unprecedented period of change, convergence and integration. Market volatility in recent years has been matched by innovative transactions and an increase in product complexity, and most recently we have seen the emerging importance of fund raising in the ESG sector. We expect markets to continue to be active this year and drive post-Covid recovery in the real economy.  I’d like to thank Michael Voisin for his leadership of our award winning global capital markets team, who have successfully acted on some of the most transformative transactions in recent times.”

Hong Kong SAR-based Hwang Hwa was promoted as a capital markets partner with Linklaters in 2010. He advises issuers, underwriters and investors on the full range of debt, equity and equity-linked products in China and Asia. He is particularly noted for his market-leading expertise in convertible bonds and exchangeable bonds, cross-border bond issuances by major PRC companies (including structured bonds), panda bonds, green bonds and structured pre-IPO investments. Hwang Hwa has also worked on a number of proprietary investments by alternative capital providers, global investment banks, special situations groups, hedge funds and private equity funds.
 
Hwang Hwa is a member of the Legal Experts Working Group for China’s National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) and is fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Fujianese, Bahasa Indonesia and Malay. He studied law at the University of Birmingham and is a Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn.
 
From debt and equity issues through to derivatives and structured finance, Linklaters’ market-leading capital markets practice advises on the full range of UK, U.S. and domestic laws through its global network of offices. The team has been at the forefront of the most complex and innovative developments in the international capital markets. Some of them include: 

  • The largest-ever social bond issued by the European Commission. At €17bn, the Commission's inaugural Covid-related social bond is the largest ever bond issuance under the EU SURE programme. The transaction also recorded the largest-ever order book for a bond sale across any sector, with demand reaching €233bn.
  • Green and social bond offering by the Republic of Chile. The series of ESG bonds includes the largest sustainability bond issued by a Latin American sovereign.
  • Europe’s first ever general purpose SDG linked bond. It was almost four times oversubscribed and total orders stood at about 10 billion euros.
  • First sovereign green bond issue in the Middle East and North Africa region. Listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and admitted to the LSE’s dedicated Sustainable Bond Market (SBM).
  • Asia’s first blue bonds offering by Bank of China (BOC). The proceeds of the US$942m equivalent dual-currency blue bonds offering will be used to support ocean-related sustainability projects. This offering marks the first blue bond issuance in Asia and the first global blue bond issuance by a commercial bank.
  • The launch of the ISDA 2020 IBOR Fallbacks Protocol. These documents enable trillions of dollars of derivatives contracts to be updated by including prescriptive fallbacks in the event of LIBOR discontinuation. They represent the culmination of over four years of work and have been welcomed by regulators globally.
  • The US$6bn 144A/Reg S sovereign bonds offering by the People’s Republic of China. This is the first time China has targeted US institutional investors directly in 17 years. The hugely successful transaction has attracted a record demand of an orderbook of over US$28bn.