Salans has finally opened a Hong Kong office almost a year after recruiting Andrew Lui from rival Pinsent Masons to head up the office. The firm recently confirmed that it had finally secured the government approvals neccessary to open in the special administrative region.
 
The move means that the firm now has three offices in the region - Hong Kong, Shanghai (where it opened in 2003) and Beijing. The firm said that although it has a comparatively large footprint in Asia already, the Hong Kong opening would become the hub of its operations in the region.
 
"[The Hong Kong office] will act as a hub for Salans' future growth in other parts of Asia," said Lui. "[It] will provide a gateway for foreign investment into mainland China and will focus on corporate, capital markets and institutional real estate transactions."
 
Lui added that the firm has already brought on a number of new lawyers for the office and was looking to bring on more in the near future.  "[The firm]  has already recruited a strong team in Hong Kong, and will be announcing more appointments shortly."

The firm's strengths lie in former USSR countries, with offices in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.