Latham & Watkins has appointed Hong Kong corporate finance partner Bryant Edwards as the new chair of its Asia practice, replacing David Miles, who retired in April.

Edwards, who relocated to Hong Kong in 2012 from Dubai, was appointed to the role last month with the responsibility of overseeing Latham's five regional offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.

Specialising in Islamic finance and high yield bonds, he previously served as chair of the Middle East practice, launching and managing the firm's four offices in Riyadh, Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi for a period of four years.

Before that he spent eight years in London developing the firm's European high yield bond practice and acting as chair of the corporate department, transferring to the UAE in 2008 as part of a move by Latham to ramp up its Gulf practice.

Other partners to move at the same time included London corporate partner Charles Fuller, New York finance partner Kenneth Schuhmacher and Silicon Valley corporate partner Nicholas O'Keefe.

Edwards' appointment to Asia chair follows the departure of energy and infrastructure partner David Miles, who spent almost 19 years at the US outfit and was founder of the London practice before moving to Hong Kong in 2009 to help build the Asia team.

It also coincides with the appointment of Asia disputes head Simon Powell as the new Hong Kong office manager in April, replacing corporate partner Michael Liu who was in the role for four years.

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