James Huang heads our Finance and Projects team in Singapore. He has extensive experience practicing in London, Hong Kong as well as Singapore and has handled a multitude of financing transactions in the Asia Pacific. Mr. Huang has been consistently recognized as a leading lawyer in the Singapore Banking & Finance sector by Asia Pacific Legal 500 since 2001.

Practice Focus

Mr Huang represents corporates and financial institutions in all manner of financing related transactions across the Asia Pacific. He has advised companies and banks — including commercial banks, private banks and investment banks — on a wide range of financing matters and has acted on numerous cross-border debt restructurings, leasing, banking and finance transactions including structured financing, asset financing, limited recourse project financings, ECA supported financings and equipment and aircraft leasing in Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong SAR, China and Bangladesh. Most recently, he acted on the USD400 million project financing for PTT Asahi Chemical Company Limited which was awarded Project Finance International’s Asia Pacific Petrochemical Deal of the Year 2008.

Representative Legal Matters

• Advised The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited and other lenders on a USD400 million project financing to PTT Asahi Chemical Company Limited for the development, construction and operation of a 200,000 metric tonnes per annum acrylonitrile production facility and an associated 70,000 metric tonnes per annum methyl methacrylate monomer production facility at Map Ta Phut, Rayong, Thailand. This deal was awarded Project Finance International’s Asia Pacific Petrochemical Deal of the Year 2008.
• Advised DBS Bank Ltd. on the SGD2.25 billion acquisition finance loan to Sabre Energy Industries Pte. Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of YTL Power International Berhad, for financing the purchase of PowerSaraya Limited from Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited. The PowerSaraya sale was one of three generating company divestments by Temasek which collectively won FinanceAsia’s Best Singapore Deal 2008 award.
• Advised on ING Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s USD300 million financing to a major Indonesian coal mining company.
• Advised Standard Chartered Bank on a USD150 million acquisition financing to a major Indian corporate for the acquisition of a Brazilian energy company.
• Advised Jaya Holdings Limited, a large builder and owner of offshore support vessels and its subsidiaries on the restructuring of its indebtedness (up to SGD1 billion) to 13 banks and trade creditors. This was the only debt restructuring of a Singapore-listed corporation during the Financial Crisis.

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Law Society of England & Wales

Admission

Singapore (1998)
Hong Kong (1993)
England & Wales~United Kingdom (1991)

Education

College of Law, Chester (1989)
University College, London (1988)