News

The Maples Group is pleased to announce the expansion of its global Shipping team with a number of strategic hires in Asia.

Jonathan Silver joins the Maples Group's law firm in Hong Kong as a partner and brings nearly 20 years' experience in the fields of banking and shipping, having previously led the Shipping Group at Norton Rose Fulbright for the North Asia region, where he also co-led the Republic of Marshall Islands law practice.

Jonathan will lead the Group's Asia Shipping team, providing British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Marshall Islands legal advice, entity formation and fiduciary services to clients worldwide. The team will work closely with Sherice Arman, partner and head of the Shipping team in the Group's Cayman Islands office.

Jonathan's vast experience covers shipping finance and other shipping matters, including loans, leasing, private equity, sale and purchase, building contracts, charter parties, guarantees, joint ventures, pooling and management. He also has substantial experience advising on general banking and finance transactions, such as unsecured lending, working capital loans and structured trade and commodity finance.  Jonathan is proficient in Mandarin Chinese and speaks conversational Cantonese. Jonathan is also a Notary Public appointed in Hong Kong.

The expansion includes the strategic hiring of Maggie Wong and Rachel Wang in the Maples Group's Hong Kong-based law firm and Edwin Lo in its fiduciary services team.

Managing Partner of the Group's law firm in Hong Kong and Global Head of Asset Finance, Mark Western, said, "We are delighted to welcome Jonathan and team to the Maples Group.  We believe their combined extensive experience in the shipping industry, deep market knowledge of Asia, and Marshall Islands legal expertise will complement our existing global capabilities and enable us to offer a broader service to our clients in the region.  "

Commenting on his appointment, Jonathan Silver said, "I am very excited to join the Maples Group where I will have the opportunity to work with the Group's international client base across shipping, finance, entity formation and fiduciary matters. I look forward to joining a prestigious global partnership and using my experience to develop the Group's global shipping practice."

Global Managing Partner, Alasdair Robertson, added, "These appointments further demonstrate our commitment to provide our Asian clients with a world class service in a wide range of industries." 

The Maples Group's Asia offices have over 300 legal, fund services and fiduciary services lawyers and professionals based in Hong Kong and Singapore. Jonathan is the second new partner to join the Group's Asia Pacific team this year, where they now have 21 practising partners. Earlier this year, the Group opened an office in Shanghai in response to the growing client base in China.