Olswang hires for South East Asia expansion

Olswang, for years a decidedly UK-focused outfit, has more recently been going all guns blazing to stamp its technology-led footprint on the globe.

A fundamental part of that strategy is the Holborn firm’s approach to Asia. Last year the firm launched in Singapore. In January this year Olswang hired the former head of China at CMS Cameron McKenna Andrew Halper to focus on the firm’s activities in China.The most recent instalment as the firm looks to build on its nascent Asia practice is the hire of Fasken Martineau corporate partner Azlinda Ariffin-Boromand.

The former co-leader of Fasken Martineau’s South East Asia practice, Ariffin-Boromand is a Malaysia specialist steeped in the business and culture of the region. Although she will remain based in London, Olswang’s plan is for Ariffin-Boromand to act as a conduit between the firm’s primary UK office and its burgeoning team in Asia.

In a statement, Olswang CEO David Stewart described the firm’s “ambitious plans to extend our reach to other growth economies in Asia”. Ariffin-Boromand, a barrister who practised as an advocate and solicitor in Malaysia for 12 years before moving to the UK to re-qualify as a solicitor, is expected to play a pivotal role in that.

Her ties into the Malaysian market are also reflected in her appointment in 2011 as chairman of the Overseas Malaysian Executive Council (OMEC, UK), a platform network established in 1993 for building strategic business relationships and partnerships between Malaysia, the UK and Europe.

No doubt that role brings with it no end of handy connections.