The document discusses the formation of Cathay Associates, a new global alliance of legal and business advisory boutique firms. It was founded to address the growing demand for seamless cross-border services between Asia, China, and the rest of the world. The alliance brings together local experts in Asia and China with extensive experience and networks, along with European firms to provide a full-service bridge between these regions. It aims to establish a presence across Asia, Europe, and key markets in the Americas to best serve the international expansion needs of Chinese and Asian companies.

1. WE CAN
PREDICT
THE FUTURE
IF WE ARE
MAKING IT

2. &
By time we became to be more than lawyers, finding ourselves being the developer and manager of several
projects from various industries.
The recent global recession combined with this wider business perspective we have gained throughout the
years made it clear that Asia, especially China, and the globally expanding companies from the region will be
highly important players of the economy in the years to come.
We also recognized that the traditional way of providing legal services and business advisory is not sustainable
any longer.
These two findings helped us to understand: there is a NICHE AND NEED for a new thing, a bridge between
Asia, China and the rest of the world. For that we must have immediate access to the Asian market that can
only be achieved by having the strongest local experts there with several years of experience and a wide do-
mestic network.
I am Pascal DEMKO, a French-Hungarian
international lawyer with more than 20 years
of business law experience and a track record
of numerous cross border transactions, mostly
in Europe.
My name is He Jie and I am the founder and man-
aging partner of one of China’s leading business
boutique law firms. I have been in the profession
for almost 20 years focusing specialized on out-
bound and Chinese M&A, capital markets and FDI.
Bonjour! Nihao!
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3. It was also clear that a full-time central team must be supporting our work.
A team, that is taking care of co-ordination, maintenance and follow-up that lawyers individually might not
otherwise have the time or resources for, and what is the biggest pain for many of us, advisors, on the long run.
The goal was to establish a China/Asia specialist GLOBAL alliance of boutiques with LOCAL know-how and net-
work combined with a central marketing, organization and maintenance team that eases the burden of time
demanding business development from the shoulders of the members. In addition, the independent law firms
should collaborate with leading players from other key advisory segments (such as accounting, tax planning,
investment banking and corporate finance) to provide combined, 360 degrees services to international clients.
So we, peers with many years of business experience gained in China and the Western world, decided to join
forces: He Jie and his Chinese team, legal and business experts with an extremely strong local reach combined
with a Western mindset and Pascal and his group, bringing the European thinking and Asia experience into
the system. We created CATHAY ASSOCIATES, a full service bridge builder platform that is proud to be totally
Chinese, Asia specialist and international at the same time. Our soft launch was in the beginning of September
and our Grand Opening in Beijing will take place on 19 October.
With He Jie, we have a founding partner managing top notch offices in Beijing and Shanghai, being the founda-
tion of our Asian operations complemented by other leading firms from all around the region.
On the other hand we already have leading European boutiques on board and aim to have an all-continent
presence by the end of Q1 of 2016.
Looking forward to working with you in a successful cooperation, sincerely yours
Pascal DEMKO
Founding Partners
HE Jie
BUILDING A BRIDGE
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4. An answer to the demand of how to tap into the opportunities offered by the controversial alignment between
the struggles of global markets and continuously growing economies of China and Asia. An answer to the
increased demand for seamless services across international boundaries.
This answer is also identical to these problems: the fastest and best solution to such demand is to enter into
an integrated association originated from China in order to extend our services to other countries.
The international market for legal and other advisory services, such as consulting, tax planning and investment
banking, is complex and rapidly evolving. Clients are continuously seeking to contain legal and consulting costs
and obtain ever-greater value for money from their budgets. Global crisis, high levels of corporate regulation
and governance, globalization, changing legislation, new technology, the competition to attract and retain
talented lawyers and advisors, trends towards outsourcing, scrutiny from procurement departments, are just
some of the pressures that combine to make for a demanding and challenging environment to operate in.
OUR GROUP WILL BE
AN ANSWER
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5. The Chinese market, with regard to its outbound potential, is more attractive than ever to all stakeholders
affected by the business. Yet, there is still room for new players, supposing that they can provide to the foreign
clients the combination of high quality international services and strong local market expertise, coverage and
penetration to actual decision makers in China.
On the other hand, due to the Chinese outbound investors being relatively new and slightly uncertain in the
foreign markets, they tend to look for using the services of advisors who are familiar with Chinese mindset and
standards and who at the same time are leading firms in the given national markets as well.
Another angle is that we are running out of time: China’s Going Global Strategy and the recently introduced Silk
Road initiative is happening right now and, mostly due to the global financial crisis, the rest of the world is in
need of financing.
At the same time other Chinese and Asian companies expanding internationally have recently found
themselves in a unique and enviable position, too. High-growth domestic markets, government support, lower
valuations of takeover targets and ready access to capital have provided unprecedented opportunities to
journey to new markets in Europe and around the world.
However, these companies cannot simply replicate the strategies and operating models employed at home or
by earlier globalizers, they need advisors that speak their language and share their mindset.
Whoever manages to combine being Chinese, in China and local abroad, think as a Western in China and be and
talk Chinese abroad, will be the winner of the race for the trust of these special customers and the same holds
true for any outbound investment from Asia.
CHINA IS
GOING GLOBAL NOW
AND ASIA FOLLOWS
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6. E X P A N S I O NWe are lawyers. Our goal is to generate legal work by proactively seeking for opportunities for our clients in
international markets. We are looking for partners who understand that the most promising way of clinching
legal mandates is to facilitate projects with the help of our network, contacts and know-how.
In each country we are giving priority to leading local, middle-sized firms specialized on all or some of the
selected practices and industries CATHAY ASSOCIATES focuses on. Having good connections in the business
and public sphere of the given country is also highly appreciated.
Key to the success are the partners: we have on board a leading business law firm of China being present in
the most important commercial centers: Beijing and Shanghai. We are already present in Malaysia, but our
Asian network will include high profile firms in all of the crucial hubs: Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, Singapore,
Jakarta, Bangkok and Hanoi are on our map already. In Europe we have joined forces with firms in Paris, Madrid,
Barcelona, Lisbon, Prague, Bratislava, Tirana, Bucharest, Warsaw, Zagreb, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Valletta
just to name a few, but through our expansion, we will be present in London, Milan, Frankfurt, Luxembourg and
Amsterdam. We are going to cover the essential places in the Americas: New York, Mexico City and Sao Paulo,
whereas Cape Town and Nairobi are our planned strongholds in Africa.
Our expansion strategy is based on the factual or presumed interest, strategic
targets for Chinese and Asian public and private companies, obviously preferring
countries and regions where major clients have existing activity or are developing
new business.
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8. Pascal DEMKO
HE Jie
info@cathayassociates.com
www.cathayassociates.com
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