Follow my leader for Kruger's team

Continuing its aggressive expansion programme, international law firm, Linklaters has added a further four lawyers to its emergent Asian structured finance and securitisation practice.

All four lawyers follow in the wake of Paul Kruger's defection as head of Clifford Chance's Asian capital markets team and represent the bulk of Kruger's securitization team at Clifford Chance.

Mary Matson, who has worked alongside Kruger from the dawning of the Asian securitization market 10 years ago, joins Linklaters as head of securitization.

Paul Chu also joins Linklaters' Hong Kong practice as managing associate. Chu had been with Clifford Chance for over five years, with a brief spell as in-house counsel supporting CSFB's Derivatives Structuring Group and as a banker with the Asian Securitisation Group.

Rounding out the remainder of the team is Lora Lam and Edith Au Yeung. Lam will accompany Chu and Matson to Hong Kong, while Yeung joins the Tokyo practice as managing associate.

This completes a storied defection of what is considered the preeminent securitization team in Asia to its direct competitor. It brings with them an imposing track record, having worked on Hong Kong Link's HK$ billion toll road securitization, which won Finance Asia's Top Securitization Award, as well as Korea First Bank's 2004 Euro 550 million RMBS.

The team's primary focus will cover, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and the budding Chinese marketplace.