Steptoe & Johnson's offices in Washington, D.C.

Am Law 100 firm Steptoe & Johnson is opening an office in Hong Kong with two senior hires from Clifford Chance.

The U.S. litigation and regulatory-focused firm has hired Clifford Chance's Hong Kong-based partner and Asia-Pacific anti-corruption and trade controls practice leader, Wendy Wysong. It is also bringing on Singapore-based counsel Ali Burney, who will relocate to Hong Kong. They join Steptoe as partners.

Both Wysong and Burney are U.S. lawyers specialising in government investigations – especially cases related to sanctions and export controls. Both lawyers also have worked for the U.S. government.

Wysong, who will continue to split time between Hong Kong and Washington, D.C., represented Chinese telecom giant ZTE Corp. on a five-year export controls and economic sanctions investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Treasury. ZTE settled the case in 2017, agreeing to a combined civil and criminal penalty of nearly $1.2 billion.

She leaves Clifford Chance after 12 years with the firm. Previously, she served from 2004 to 2007 as deputy assistant secretary for export enforcement at the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security. She was acting assistant secretary from 2004 to 2005. Before that, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia for 15 years. Earlier in her career, she practised at legacy Hogan & Hartson.

Wendy Wysong

Burney leaves the Magic Circle firm after a total of 16 years with the firm. He joined Clifford Chance's Washington, D.C., office in 2006 as an associate, and in 2019 he was promoted to counsel in Singapore. In 2004, he was a transactions analyst with the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Before that, he did a stint as an associate at Clifford Chance.

Wysong and Burney will be joined by additional counsel and associates from Clifford Chance, Steptoe said in a statement. In addition, Steptoe regulatory and investment partner Susan Munro will relocate to the Hong Kong office from Beijing, where she has been serving as chief office representative since 2015.

"Wendy is perhaps the most prominent Hong Kong practitioner in areas that complement key Steptoe strengths: white-collar defense, [Foreign Corrupt Practices Act], export controls and economic sanctions," Steptoe's Washington, D.C.-based chair, Philip West, said in a statement. "Wendy and her team will bring great additional talent to our already deep bench in these areas, enabling us to further support our clients' Asia-based needs."

Other international firms also have recently recruited regulatory partners as multinational companies increasingly seek help on regulatory compliance matters, investigations and enforcement actions as a result of the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute. Last month, Allen & Overy hired Eugene Chen in Hong Kong from Hogan Lovells' Shanghai office, and Reed Smith in May hired former Morgan, Lewis & Bockius regulatory enforcement partner Dora Wang in Shanghai.

"Steptoe has great strengths in the practices that closely align with my areas of focus so I am delighted by this opportunity to lead the firm's expansion in Asia, building on its decade in Beijing, with the opening of a Hong Kong office," Wysong said in the firm's statement. "Hong Kong is an important regional financial centre for global legal clients with activities not only in China but in Asia more broadly."

A Hong Kong-based spokesperson for Clifford Chance thanked Wyson and Burney for their contributions to the firm, adding they "wish them all the best in their new roles".

At Steptoe, Wysong and Burney reunite with Clifford Chance's former investigations director Zoe Osborne, who is based in London. She made the move to Steptoe in October.

Steptoe's only other office in Asia is in Beijing. Patent partner Timothy Bickham and international anti-corruption partner Richard Battaglia recently relocated there from Washington, D.C. and Chicago, respectively. The firm has three other lawyers in Beijing, including international trade counsel Henry Cao.

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