New head of Asia for Linklaters

Linklaters has appointed Hong Kong-based capital markets partner William Liu as Asia managing partner for four years from 1 June 2021.

Liu will succeed banking partner Nathalie Hobbs in Hong Kong, who has completed her term. He was previously the head of Linklaters’ China operations, and headed the firm’s capital markets practice for Asia since 2018. He also sits on the firm’s Asia executive committee.

Speaking to China Business Law Journal about the firm’s strategy going forward with himself at the helm, he said the first priority was to prepare the firm and its people to be able to come out of the pandemic stronger than before. “For a year, we have pretty much been in crisis management mode,” said Liu. “After that, we need to be able to capture the growth.

“We need to find our edge. As an international firm, we have to accept that we will never be able to compete with the Chinese firms in terms of size and coverage.

“I think everyone is now talking about the recent enforcement actions by the Chinese government against some big tech [companies] with a view to ensure a fairer market environment, and ensuring fair competition. I think that’s probably the single most important trend in China.