Ian Hardee is a finance lawyer with over 35 years of experience, with a focus on international business. He advises on finance, regulatory and cross-border issues and is qualified in both England & Wales and in Hong Kong (although he no longer practises Hong Kong law).

Well-versed in international and cross-border issues, Ian’s expertise spans general banking, debt capital markets, regulatory compliance and risk, corporate governance, asset management, trade finance, and debt restructuring.

Ian advises on a wide range of debt financing arrangements, acting for founders, investors, financial institutions, corporate lenders and borrowers, and professional trustees; and has experience advising on general banking, secured lending arrangements, venture capital investments, shareholder loans, and a wide range of debt capital markets issuances (e.g convertible, index-linked, asset-backed and high yield instruments), debt listings, and securitisations.

His expertise has been widely recognised in the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. Having spent 30 years in Hong Kong, Ian was appointed to the “Lawyer’s Working Group on the Debt Market” (set up by Hong Kong’s Financial Services and Treasury Bureau and the Securities and Futures Commission to help develop the retail bond market in Hong Kong) and also sat on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong’s working group to revise debt listing rules.

Ian has the advantage of having worked in top-tier firms (including a Magic Circle firm where he was a partner for many years, and was also a partner in a “White Shoe” (top-tier US) law firm), as well as having been in-house with a leading international bank working very closely alongside the business teams as well as being part of the senior ragional management team.  He therefore has particular insight into commercial priorities and can see issues from a wide range of perspectives.

He has strong analytical skills, but as he is very solution-oriented he does not always regard legal issues as being simply problems but rather regards them as problems requiring a solution.