Martin Desautels
Senior Partner
Cambodia, Vietnam
+855 23 210 400 / +84 2839 100 072
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Expertise

  • Banking and Finance
  • Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure
  • Investment Funds

Countries of expertise

  • Cambodia
  • Lao PDR
  • Vietnam

Martin is a Senior Partner at DFDL. He served as the Managing Partner of the firm for almost two decades, during which he led the firm's regional expansion from one office to 12 offices in ASEAN and Bangladesh. He continues to advise clients and lead transactions, as well as support the new Managing Partner of the firm. He also plays a leadership role in overseeing employees, key clients, and, more specifically, the firm’s growth strategy and regional expansion. Recently, he spearheaded the firm's expansion into new jurisdictions, such as Malaysia and Indonesia, where DFDL established its own new offices.

He is the founder and leader of the Connector Unit, an award-winning, innovative DFDL platform that helps clients find new business leads in regional markets. Building on the successes of the Connector Unit, Martin will be supporting the newly launched Corporate Advisory Business Unit, a new line of services offered by DFDL to its clients that will expand the range of DFDL's existing legal and tax offerings to include strategic and transactional advice services. He will notably focus on advising clients on regional expansion, growth strategy, and M&A approaches throughout ASEAN.

Martin is a banking and finance lawyer and has a wealth of experience in the infrastructure and energy sector, including renewable energy projects in the emerging markets of Asia. He has been practicing law in ASEAN for more than 20 years and has worked with investments funds, international banks and sizeable Asian investors on their investments and expansion strategies across the ASEAN region. He has also provided technical assistance to various governmental bodies (such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Agence Française de Développement) on various aspects of the development of investment, regulatory and legal frameworks.

Martin is ranked as a leading lawyer by renowned legal directories such as Chambers Asia Pacific, IFLR, Asialaw and Legal 500.

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