Compass Lexecon Announces Opening of Hong Kong Office

Compass Lexecon Appoints Dr. Derek Ritzmann as Senior Vice President to Lead Activities across the Asia Pacific Region

Compass Lexecon is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Derek Ritzmann as Senior Vice President. He will be based in Hong Kong and will be leading our activities across the Asia Pacific region.

Dr. Ritzmann has been working in the areas of competition economics, law and policy since 1996 and has a strong record of interpreting and applying the economic principles that underpin modern competition enforcement. He has held a number of different positions in both competition agencies and economic consulting firms, most recently with the Competition Commission of Hong Kong, where he was the agency's first Chief Economist. He has also been the Principal Economist at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and a member of the Chief Economist Team at the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission in Brussels.

Dr. Ritzmann has also held positions with two leading economic consultancy firms based in Europe, where he worked on a number of competition cases, and provided in-country policy advice to several governments newly establishing regulatory and other authorities, including Thailand, Bulgaria, and Mozambique. He is also a lawyer qualified in several jurisdictions who has practiced as a competition and corporate lawyer in Australia. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Oxford University, an M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics, and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne.

Jorge Padilla, Senior Managing Director of Compass Lexecon said, "Derek is a well-regarded and experienced competition specialist, and we are delighted that he will be joining our team. He brings a unique blend of senior in-house and agency experience which will undoubtedly enhance our capabilities and profile right across the Asia Pacific region, and his appointment represents a statement of our clear aspirations for the firm in this rapidly-expanding market."

Dr. Ritzmann commented, "I am delighted to be joining Compass Lexecon and leading its expansion across Asia Pacific. Having worked in Hong Kong for a number of years, I have seen at first hand the increase in client demand for the best possible cross-border advice and expertise, and look forward to bringing Compass Lexecon's global capabilities to the region and further enhancing its international offering."