The National Law Journal (NLJ) has named Haynes and Boone, LLP Partner Albert Tan to its inaugural list of Finance, Banking and Capital Markets Trailblazers. The list recognizes lawyers who have moved the needle in the legal industry.
Tan joined Haynes and Boone in 1994 and became a partner in the firm’s Financial Transactions Department in 2004. In addition to serving as co-chair of the Fund Finance Practice Group, he serves on the firm’s Board of Directors, Partners’ Compensation Committee, and Strategic Growth Committee. He formerly served as a co-chair of the firm’s attorney development and diversity committee.
To read the NLJ profile on Tan, click here. For the full NLJ feature of all other recognized Trailblazers, click here.
Tan has played a pivotal role in the introduction and growth of subscription finance in Asia. Subscription financing started as a private equity real estate (PERE) financing product in North America but has become a global product, used by private equity funds in buyout, private debt, real estate, infrastructure and natural resources, among others alternative asset classes, in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
“Because of the evolution to a global product, we are seeing some region-specific nuances to Europe and Asia,” Tan states in the profile. “As long as the private equity market continues its growth – and given the wealth of capital from public pensions, sovereign wealth and family offices investing in private equity – subscription financing and fund finance will continue to evolve and flourish.”
Tan has played an instrumental role in this growth – particularly for Asia. Since 2007, he has traveled to private equity conferences throughout Asia, introducing and explaining the finer points of subscription financing. Tan represented lenders — Morgan Stanley, Mizuho, SMBC and UOB — in arranging the first subscription financings to PERE funds based in HK, Japan, Singapore and Korea.
Tan’s role in subscription financing’s growth in Asia led the Fund Finance Association (FFA) to tap him as co-chair of its inaugural Asia-Pacific Symposium, held in Hong Kong in 2017 and as its steering committee member in 2018 and 2019.
As the longest serving attorney of color and a leader, Tan has helped Haynes and Boone attract more minority lawyers. To cite one telling metric, 9% of lawyers at Haynes and Boone are Asian Pacific Americans, roughly triple the national average for APA lawyers at similarly-sized AmLaw 100 firms.
Tan works tirelessly to open doors for APA lawyers in Texas, including serving in a leadership capacity for Dallas Asian American Bar Association (DAABA) and Asian Pacific Interest Section (APIS) of the State Bar of Texas. In 2015, APIS presented Tan with its highest honor, the Justice Wellington Chew Award, for helping to pave the way for the advancement of APA attorneys. In 2011, DAABA awarded Tan the Inspirational Leadership Award for inspiring the next generation of APA lawyers.