Ian Hardee

Ian is a highly experienced finance lawyer. He was a partner at Clifford Chance and White & Case, was the first in-house lawyer in Asia for Wachovia Bank (later Wells Fargo Bank), and was later senior counsel at King & Wood Mallesons.

More about Ian

Ian has over 35 years’ experience in a wide range of international finance transactions. He has been an equity partner at Magic Circle and “white shoe” law firms, and spent almost a decade in-house with a leading US bank. He has very broad cross-border experience, and has worked extensively with regulators and governmental bodies, including helping them revise laws and regulations as a trusted external adviser. He is very solution-oriented, and uses his analytical skills to cut through to what clients actually want to achieve.

Recent work

Having worked both in-house and in private practice, Ian has a particularly good insight into client needs from all perspectives. As a consequence, he is very focused on meeting and exceeding clients’ objectives, taking a very commercial and yet pragmatic approach. He spent thirty years in Hong Kong (and is qualified there, although he now only practises English law) and was recognised as a leading lawyer by Chambers, Asia Pacific Legal 500, and Asia Law & Practice (part of Euromoney). During his in-house years, Ian worked on all aspects of the bank’s business in Asia, from regulatory licensing (including relicensing the bank in all Asian jurisdictions consequent on the takeover by Wells Fargo of Wachovia), to business structuring (he set up much of the bank’s legal framework in Asia), employment and disciplinary issues, regulatory audits, commercial contracts, legal risk management and much more besides. He is unphased by the most complex issues, as he has extensive experience in looking at problems from all angles to see where the common interest and solution can be found.