O'Melveny & Myers has beefed up its investment funds and securitisation practice in Hong Kong with the hire of a partner from rival US firm Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker.

Neil Campbell has practised in Hong Kong for 14 years, specialising in asset-backed securitisation work . He was previously chair of the Asian securitisation practice at Paul Hastings.

Commenting on the appointment, O'Melveny Asia chair Howard Chao added: "Neil's finance work will bolster our existing platform for serving key financial institution and investment fund clients in Asian and UK markets. He brings an impressive track record of handling large and novel securitization and structured finance transactions."

Campbell added: "O'Melveny is a first-rate practice in Asia with a reputation for doing innovative legal work for brand-name clients."

The move comes after O'Melveny – which has more than 1,000 lawyers across 13 offices globally – indicated that it aims to develop its securitisation team in London and New York.

Last week the Los Angeles-based firm saw its Beijing office head, corporate partner Howard Zhang, switch to the local arm of elite New York firm Davis Polk & Wardwell.

Meanwhile, a seven-lawyer private equity team – including former investment funds practice co-head Timothy Clark – earlier this week quit O'Melveny's New York arm to join Covington & Burling.

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