Industry sector strengths

Traditionally, the Group has a strong track record of advising domestic and foreign clients on complex regulatory matters. The team is a very popular destination among Korean banks and corporations that face regulatory disputes with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the FSC. Backed by several former FSS attorneys and Korea Exchange (KRX) expert advisors, the firm’s Banking & Finance Practice Group has been poised to lead the domestic banking and financial disputes markets. Myung Soo Lee, the former chief in-house counsel of FSS, and other attorneys such as Hyun Suk Jung, Ju Yong Lee, Ok Pyeong Je, Seung Jae Yeon, Hwan Jun Heo, Jong Youl Choi, Yong Ho Choi, Chang Hun Han, Young Hyun Kim, Jong Hyuk Choi and Min Seok Joo all have past experience in FSS or FSC.

Recently, however, the Group started to achieve its reputation for its expertise in significant project finance, aviation finance and banking transactions. Especially regarding aviation finance, the firm has recently hired Hye Kyung Helen Sohn, a bilingual lawyer who worked at Lee & Ko for 27 years from 1995 to 2022. During her 27-year-stay at Lee & Ko, she has become the country’s leading aircraft finance expert, advising financial leases and operational leases related to aircraft introduction on behalf of major domestic airlines, as well as advising on aircraft mortgage loans and investment transactions for many financial institutions. For her recent works, please refer to the below deal highlights #1 and #2.   In 2023, the firm also welcomed Elayne Heeseung Sung as a partner after she worked at Lee & Ko for 21 years from 2001 to 2022. Now at Yoon & Yang, Elayne concentrates on cross-border transactions with a focus on lease and transportation finance. She is specialized in advising owners and banks with acquisition and financing of new buildings and secondhand ships, joint venture agreements, sale and leasebacks, cross-border leases and export credit agency backed facilities.

In addition, Yoon & Yang’s cross-border banking & finance transactions are expected to grow significantly with the recent promotion of Dae Sagong, Sungdo Choi and Jiwon Karen Kwak as the firm’s new partners. The trio are specialized in energy, Vietnam & Southeast Asia, and foreign investment respectively. In particular, Dae Sagong provides legal advice to major global and domestic renewable energy companies in such matters as photovoltaic power generation, onshore/offshore wind power generation and waste treatment. Previously an attorney at Kim & Chang and Lee & Ko, Sungdo Choi handles the firm’s Vietnamese matters while Jiwon Karen Kwak is a standout in foreign and domestic finance.

The firm has started to become a popular choice for Korean banks regarding their loan transactions. In addition, the Group’s junior partner Bo Hyun Lee is actively involved in real estate finance transactions. He regularly advises securities companies such as Shinhan Investment Corp. and CAPE Investment & Securities Co., Ltd. in regards to their loan transactions for real estate projects. In addition, partner Young Woo Park who splits his time between real estate and project finance is also active in this practice area. It is worth noting that Young Woo Park has recently expanded his client bases in cross-border financing.

The Group has successfully devised and handled leading cases and possesses unrivalled know-how in traditional financial transactions, such as term loans, as well as sales of non-performing loans (NPL), Asset Backed Securities (ABS), Asset Backed Security Papers (ABSP), short-term electronic debentures, covered bonds, and other various types of structured finance transactions.  The Group provides clients with the best and most efficient financing structures and advisory services based on such extensive experience and profound knowledge.

[Key Clients]
Bocomm Leasing, Korea Development Bank, Korea Air Lines Co., Ltd.

[Practice Head]
Hwan Jun Heo

[Other Key lawyers]
Bo Hyun Lee, Chang Wook Shin, Elayne Heeseung Sung, Eun CHul Choi, H. K. Helen Sohn, Hwan Jun Heo, Hyun Suk Jung, Jae Ryun Cho, Ji Ho Park, Jiwon Karen Kwak, Sagong Dae, Soonghee Lee, Sung Woon Kang, Sungdo Choi, Young Ho Kang, Young Woo Park