Bingham McCutchen LLP expanded its 75-lawyer Tokyo office and bolstered its global cross-border capabilities in Japan and Asia with the addition of Christopher Wells and Tomoko Fuminaga as partners in Bingham’s Investment Management Group along with five additional lawyers, including Carol Tsuchida and Koji Yamamoto.
Wells and Fuminaga, who headed the investment funds and regulatory team at White & Case, significantly augment Bingham’s investment management and financial regulatory strengths internationally. A leader in investment funds and regulation in Asia, Wells focuses on the establishment, operation, registration and licensing of funds and fund-related investment intermediaries in Japan, including banks, securities companies, asset managers, investment trust management companies and moneylenders. Fuminaga advises banking, securities and asset management companies on Japanese financial regulatory matters and corporate law. She has deep experience structuring investment funds and registering them in Japan. Wells and Fuminaga also represent a wide range of financial services and other clients on cross-border M&A and regulatory matters.
Wells has been recognized as a top-tier ranked lawyer by Chambers Asia, which named him as a Band 1 leading individual for Investment Funds. He was also named one of the “most influential people in Asian hedge funds” by AsianInvestor magazine.
“Chris and Tomoko have built one of the leading international investment funds and financial regulatory practices in Asia,” said partner Roger Joseph, head of Bingham’s Investment Management Group. “Their arrival further solidifies our capabilities globally to assist investment management and financial services clients with sophisticated legal needs that span borders.”
Tokyo managing partner Hideyuki Sakai noted that the recent additions also reflect an increase in investment activity in Japan and underscore Bingham’s long-term commitment to the Tokyo office, one of the largest law offices in Japan.
“The arrival of Chris and Tomoko further enables us to provide the best on-the-ground capabilities in Tokyo for domestic and international institutional investors, as the Japanese market has seen recent progress under the new Japanese administration,” said Sakai.
For Wells and Fuminaga, the attraction to Bingham was its global platform in the investment management space and the firm’s commitment to Asia.
“Bingham’s reputation in investment management and financial regulatory circles and its proven track record in building its Tokyo and other Asian offices appealed to us,” said Wells, who also assists multinational financial groups with issues related to regulatory compliance and license qualification matters.
Fuminaga has advised extensively on structuring and registering investment funds in Japan. Her clients include banking, securities and asset-management companies.
Bingham’s history in Tokyo dates to 1997. Most recently, Bingham added Steve Lewis, founder of Herbert Smith’s Tokyo office, as a partner to the firm’s Japanese Practice Group and Financial Services Area, bringing significant experience in domestic and international mergers, acquisitions, investments and energy transactions across a wide variety of industry sectors.
The arrival of Wells, Fuminaga and their team come within a year of Bingham adding 13 lawyers to the Investment Management Practice Group in Washington. In July 2012, Thomas Harman, John McGuire and Christopher Menconi joined from Morgan Lewis, bringing significant experience in investment adviser and investment company matters, including registered and unregistered funds, exchange-traded funds, and business development companies.
