International firms’ business may have been affected by the collapse of some leading investment banks, namely Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, but one upside is that there is now a broadened pool of renowned deal makers available to them.

Loeb & Loeb is one of the first firms to take advantage of this opportunity with the appointment of Frank Marinaro, the former first vice president with Merrill Lynch, as a partner in the corporate department. Marinaro’s main mission is to head Loeb & Loeb’s soon to be launched office in Beijing, where he will become the firm’s chief representative in China.

In his previous role at Merrill Lynch he was also co-head of the strategic M&A and global private equity counsel group, acting as general counsel to the Merrill Lynch global private equity business group.

Marinaro has significant experience in a range of corporate practice areas, including M&A, private equity investments, fund formation, public and private securities offerings, and public disclosure issues.

Last October, Loeb & Loeb announced that it would open a representative office in Beijing in spring 2009. Currently, Marinaro is based in the firm’s New York office, but will relocate to Beijing when the new office opens.