Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
I came to Hong Kong in 1992 after working in the UK in 1977 and have not looked back since!

As a corporate/investment lawyer, I have been involved in Asian cross-border deal work since 1992; represented both banks and borrowers on key debt restructurings in Hong Kong and mainland China as well as major project and asset based financings in the Asia Pacific region.

I am also heavily involved in establishing investment funds, either through private placement or listing.

I have always been interested in Islamic principles, having studied Islamic law at university. I ventured into Islamic banking in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and for the past 12 months have been very actively involved in this industry.

I am also currently the chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong, which has allowed me to do my bit in assisting enterprises in promoting their goals.

What does your role involve?
My role at the firm involves leading my team in deal and advisory work within three main practice areas:

• Private equity/investment funds.

• China inbound and outbound investments and divestments.

• IPO/securities work.

Within the team, I work closely with my partners — Julianne Doe, Jeffrey Cheung and Valda Chan.

With the current global economic trends as they are, we also have a very busy dispute resolution practice led by my partner, Keith Brandt. The team specializes in domestic and international commercial dispute resolution and arbitration in a broad spectrum of industries. These range from commodities to maritime, oil and gas to property, and from construction to IT.

We currently have a team of three lawyers focusing on Islamic financial products, although our emphasis in this practice area remains in private equity and funds.

What is your greatest achievement to date?
I’d rather not say. However, I am now working on a number of Shariah compliant funding initiatives for Asian jurisdictions involving the use of Islamic financing structures, as well as exploring how to introduce Shariah compliant private equity into China and Korea in an attractive way.

Which of your products/services deliver the best results?
As a full service law firm, we have specialists in all areas of law. We combine solid legal advice with strong business acumen to deliver innovative and workable solutions that help our clients succeed.

And as law practices are service-oriented businesses, if the client is happy with our services, then we are happy.

What are the strengths of your business?
What makes us different is that we provide more than just expert legal advice. We have a good team of high quality, dedicated lawyers with local knowledge, industry experience and the appropriate international expertise.

The Hammonds’ Beijing office works as one with the Hong Kong office in consolidating the firm’s operations in the Far East, and provides legal solutions for our domestic, regional and international clients who transact business there.

We are also a key liaison office for the EU and other European law work.

What are the factors contributing to the success of your company?
The success of our firm would have to be credited to three things: Our high quality staff, our pragmatic advice and innovative approach to solutions for our clients, and finally, a little bit of luck.

What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
As with most businesses in the service industry, the rising costs and volatile regional economy have proven to be a challenge for us.

Where do you see the Islamic finance industry in, say, the next five years or so?
The next five years may see continued growth in the Islamic finance industry. I would also expect to see an increased rate of penetration and a wider acceptance of Islamic financing as an accepted system of funding.

I also hope to see private equity products being more widely used in order to fuel the growth of privately-owned sectors.

Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance.
I would like to see increased market penetration of Islamic financial services into north Asia.