Clifford Chance’s infrastructure partner Geraint Hughes will take over management of the Singapore office from current head Phillip Rapp, in a sign of where the firm will focus its regional business.
Hughes, who heads the firm’s Asian energy and infrastructure group, will relocate from his current post in Hong Kong in May to take over operations in Singapore. Rapp will remain in Singapore heading the Southeast Asia corporate practice. For 11 years he headed the firm’s Singapore practice and most recently oversaw its changeover to a local law-qualified practice following the QFLP licence granted by the Singapore government last year.
The shift from a corporate to an infrastructure specialist indicates where Clifford Chance’s longer-term investments will be made in the region. The firm’s head of Asia, Peter Charlton said the changeover is part of the “next phase of development” in the Southeast Asian region for the Magic Circle firm: “Geraint’s … expertise in energy and infrastructure [is] a particular focus for Southeast Asia [and] will be well utilised in leading the next phase of development for Clifford Chance in Singapore,” he said.
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