BRG Appoints Senior Expert to Lead APAC Expansion of Competition Practice

BRG has announced the appointment of Dennis Beling as a managing director in the firm’s Hong Kong office, where he will lead the expansion of BRG’s competition practice in APAC, working closely with the EMEA practice.

A former chief economist of the Hong Kong Competition Commission, Beling has extensive experience in advising on competition matters in APAC, and has worked on the full range of issues before competition authorities and courts in the region.

Throughout a wide-ranging career spanning nearly 20 years, Beling has advised on a variety of competition issues, including mergers, abuse of market power,  market studies, cartel investigations,  quantification of economic efficiencies, applications for exemption from competition rules and cartel damages. In addition to experience in the APAC region, he has significant expertise advising on cases before the European Commission, as well as national competition authorities and courts in Europe. He has worked across industries including high technology, financial services, construction, chemicals, energy and transport. Notably, Beling has a strong track record advising on issues related to the digital economy.

Mustafa Hadi, head of BRG’s Hong Kong office and regional lead in APAC, said: “We have seen considerable success in Asia-Pacific over the past few years, where demand for BRG’s dispute resolution expertise is at an all-time high. We look forward to adding Dennis’ competition and antitrust expertise to the service offering in APAC and to the new opportunities to collaborate this will create”.

Beling will continue to work internationally, in conjunction with BRG’s global teams, particularly in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region where the firm has an established presence.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dennis to our rapidly growing team”, said Professor Kai-Uwe Kühn, a managing director in BRG’s Brussels office. “He brings extensive international expertise, having advised clients in Asia and Europe on the whole range of competition issues, including new regulatory rules in some of the most dynamic sectors globally and towards foreign investments. Our EMEA clients also face many of these issues in the APAC region, where we now have the jurisdictional experience to support them”.

Commenting on his appointment, Beling said: “BRG has built a strong competition practice in recent years, appointing many leading experts in Europe and the US. I am delighted to be joining BRG’s team at this exciting time of further growth, and to help expand the firm’s offering in the APAC region. Clients increasingly face similar competition and regulatory issues across the globe. I look forward to cooperating with BRG colleagues in Europe and the US to offer our clients comprehensive support”.

BRG Vice Chairman Dr David Sunding, who leads strategic initiatives and practice development in the firm’s global Economics, Disputes and Investigations practice, said: “BRG’s competition team is going from strength to strength. We are delighted to welcome Dennis at this formative time and look forward to leveraging his unparalleled global expertise to further support our clients”.

Beling’s appointment continues the momentum of BRG’s global expansion, with numerous appointments announced in recent months, including Liberty Mncube in Johannesburg, Giordano Colarullo and Carlo Papa in Rome, Cosimo Fischietti in Milan, Declan Redmond in London for a global role, Philip Solomon in Hong Kong and Vorapong Sutanont in Thailand, where BRG opened a new office in Bangkok. BRG’s EMEA competition practice continues to grow organically since bringing on board Aleksandra Boutin and Xavier Boutin, Cyril Hariton and their team in Brussels; and Francesco Lo Passo and Marcella Fantini and their team in Rome.