Job-seeking lawyers with expertise in financial services are likely to benefit the most as confidence recovers in the Asia-Pacific markets.
According to the most recent Robert Walters market update report, many investment banks and financial institutions are significantly bolstering their legal teams by hiring lawyers in areas such as equity/credit derivatives, funds and capital markets. Lawyers with two to eight years PQE were listed by the report as most sought after in the both the Hong Kong and Singapore markets.
Comments from senior lawyers in the region back up the report. Allen & Overy’s new Asia-Pacific corporate head Gary McLean, for example, says the financial services sector has been strong over the past few months and a number of big sell-off deals are in the pipeline. “There is a lot of activity in the financial services area as a whole as we see a number of insurance and bank deals come through across the board, including the AIA and AIG sell-offs,” he said.
More work is also expected to come from small–and mid–size banks looking to consolidate in the region.
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