Stephenson Harwood has recruited Michelle Taylor, former managing partner of dissolved PwC-affiliated TN Partners for its Hong Kong office, further strengthening its finance practice in Asia.
TN Partners, formerly known as Tiang & Partners, withdrew from the PwC global network and ceased operations on 1 September, ending its nine-year relationship with the Big Four accounting firm. Taylor joins Stephenson Harwood as a partner and brings her team, including of counsel David Law.
Deloitte is now the only Big Four account firm to retain a network law firm in Hong Kong, through Chan & Jamison. In the Chinese mainland, law firms affiliated with the Big Four had exited the market by 2022 amid tighter scrutiny and a regulatory clean-up by China’s judicial authorities over the establishment and management of law firms.
Taylor joined TN as a partner in 2018 and later became managing partner. Prior to that, she was a partner at Paul Hastings, Orrick and Jones Day from 2006, based in Hong Kong throughout her time with these firms.
Earlier in her career, she practised at Clifford Chance’s London office and Sidley Austin’s Hong Kong branch.
Taylor has more than 30 years of legal experience, specialising in structured finance and securitisation. She has extensive experience in complex cross-border financings in the Asia-Pacific and Europe, with clients spanning financial services, aviation, shipping, consumer credit, energy and real estate.
She advises on a broad range of asset-backed and receivables-based debt capital markets transactions, including securitisation, structured bonds, complex security packages, development bank financings, credit derivatives, trade and real estate finance. She also has expertise in cross-border securitisation and future receivables financing for airlines and shipping companies.
Evangeline Quek, Stephenson Harwood’s Greater China managing partner, said in a press release: “We’re seeing strong growth in structured finance markets both in Hong Kong and throughout Asia. Michelle’s market-leading expertise and collaborative style will enhance our finance capability.”
