Davis Polk Hong Kong Partner Moves In-House to Flagship Airline Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific said it is strengthening its risk management capabilities as threats from strategic and regulatory risks are increasing. Last year, it suffered the biggest data breach ever in the airline industry.
April 08, 2019 at 03:20 PM
3 minute read
Davis Polk & Wardwell Hong Kong partner Paul Chow will leave the firm and join Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Hong Kong's flagship carrier, as its group general counsel.
Chow, who will start the newly created role in July, will advise Cathay Pacific's board of directors on all legal, regulatory and strategic risks, including corporate governance, dispute resolution and compliance. He will also join the airline's management committee.
At Davis Polk, Chow focused on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic investment transactions, privatisations and takeovers, as well as Hong Kong listings.
In 2017, Chow represented property developer China Vanke Co. Ltd. as part of a consortium of Chinese investors to take private Singapore-based warehouse operator Global Logistic Properties Ltd. for $11.6 billion. More recently, he advised the joint sponsors on Chinese biopharmaceutical company Innovent Biologics Inc.'s $421 million Hong Kong listing last October.
Chow leaves Davis Polk eight years after joining from Linklaters, when the Wall Street firm was building a Hong Kong law practice. He was a partner at Linklaters for five years and headed the Magic Circle's Beijing office before leaving for Davis Polk. Chow started his career with Slaughter and May as a trainee in 1995 and became a partner in 2004. Slaughter and May regularly advises Cathay Pacific and its biggest shareholder Swire group, a British conglomerate based in Hong Kong.
Cathay Pacific, which also owns Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd. and cargo airline AHK Air Hong Kong Ltd., said in a statement that Chow would help the company strengthen its ability to identify and manage risk, as threats from strategic and regulatory risks are increasing.
In October, Cathay Pacific disclosed in a stock exchange filing it suffered a data breach that exposed personal information of 9.4 million customers, the biggest data breach ever in the airline industry. It made the disclosure seven months after it became aware of the attack. In November, Hong Kong's privacy watchdog said it was conducting a compliance investigation into the airline, examining whether it had taken security measures to safeguard customers' personal data.
Cathay Pacific, represented by Slaughter and May, is also currently completing a $628 million acquisition of budget airline Hong Kong Express Airways Ltd. from debt-laden Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co., which is expected to close by the end of the year.
Chow's departure will leave Davis Polk with 10 partners in Hong Kong, one of the largest U.S. firms in the city. Hong Kong partners Miranda So, James Lin and Li He, as well as Beijing partner Howard Zhang, also advise on Hong Kong-related mergers and acquisitions.
Related Stories:
Davis Polk Hires Linklaters Beijing Office Head for New Hong Kong Practice
Chinese Insurance Conglomerate Ping An Appoints International GC
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Singapore Litigators Shift Competitive Landscape as Another Senior Duo Sets Up Own Shop
US Judge Allows $8M Unpaid Legal Fees Lawsuit Against Sierra Leone to Proceed
2 minute read
London Trial Against BHP Alleges ‘Red Flags’ Leading up to Brazil Mining Disaster Were Ignored
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
