Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) announced that asset finance expert Simon Collins has joined the firm in Hong Kong as Partner as of 1 May 2022. He was previously a Partner at White & Case in the same city.
Simon, who was an associate at WFW in both London and Singapore before joining White & Case in 2005, is widely recognised as one of Asia’s top asset finance lawyers by leading legal and industry journals including Legal 500, Chambers and Airfinance Journal. He advises clients on complex cross-border aviation and maritime finance transactions, including asset and project finance, structured lending and restructuring, leasing, and commercial shipping transactions. Simon’s ability to find creative and innovative solutions for clients was recognised in the Financial Times’ “Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific 2018” report where his representation of Avianca in a JOLCO financing was highly commended in the “Legal Expertise: Accessing new markets & capital” category.
Singapore-based WFW Global Aviation Sector Co-Head Charles Viggers commented: “Simon’s aviation finance expertise makes him an invaluable addition to our expanding Asia Pacific team, especially given his strong ties to the key Japanese market. I’m delighted to welcome him back to WFW”.
Simon added: “I am really excited to be returning to WFW. The firm has a long-standing reputation for excellence in asset finance worldwide and I greatly look forward to working with colleagues old and new to further enhance its aviation practice in that space across Asia.”
