Practice areas

Capital markets; inbound investment; litigation; M&A; technology, media & telecommunications

Introduction

He is a lawyer qualified in Japan and New York, and a certified member of the Securities Analysts Association of Japan. His thorough knowledge of business, accounting, and corporate finance, together with plentiful experience in various kinds of deals and legal matters, enables him to provide uniquely valuable legal and business advice to his clients.

His confident, practical client-first style is highly appreciated for its strategic innovation by various clients and foreign law firms. He has advised on many “deals of the year” and first-ever deals, and he consistently wins challenging cases for his clients. Based on this reputation and experience, he has been selected as a leading lawyer in Japan by major publications, including WWL, Chambers, Legal 500, IFLR, asialaw and Best Lawyers, and ranked as a top-ten outstanding Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyer by the Financial Times in 2016 (as the first-ever lawyer with the honour in Japan). In 2021, he received “Deal Maker of the Year” by ALB and in 2022, he was selected Asia’s Top 15 Capital Markets Lawyers by ALB and the firm won the “Creating New Standard” category in Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyer Award thanks to his innovative advice in IPO deals.

He publishes various articles relating to capital markets and M&A, which lead to rule-making and new standards. Recently, he is selected as a member of the study group to create Japanese-SPAC organised by Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Katsumasa has been a member of the Securities Law Committee of the International Bar Association since 2018 (Chair of the M&A sub-committee from 2022 to present) and served as co-chair of the “4th Asia-based International Financial Law Conference” held in 2023.

He heads the capital markets practice group at Mori Hamada & Matsumoto and leads the group with a mission of contributing to the growth of capital markets in Japan and Asia in the best interests of our clients.

Back to A-LIST: JAPAN 2023