AMT has a unique position in the Japanese legal market in that it can genuinely provide advice on EU law and a broad range of cross-border transactions within the European region to Japanese and Asian companies. For close to two decades now, the firm has a UK qualified partner with long standing experience of advising on EU law and EU competition law out of Brussels and London, in addition to having worked at the European Commission’s DG COMP for one year. Further, a number of the firm's Japanese qualified attorneys have studied in Europe and worked at leading law firms including in their EU law departments out of major European cities including in Brussels, London, Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid. The firm has established over many decades a close working relationship with leading law firms across Europe and regularly hosts attorneys from such firms who complement our EU law practice. The importance of being able to provide EU law advice is set to grow significantly in the context of the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement and the anticipated expansion of trade between two of the world's largest economies. For corporations and investors in the European and surrounding regions, given the global regulatory tide they are experiencing when considering cross-border operations and investments, there is an increasing demand for sophisticated legal advice by experienced professionals familiar with both European and Japanese laws. In that context, and following the opening of our London office in September 2022, we opened our Brussels office in April 2024 so that the firm is now able to provide legal services, with the firm-wide collaboration among our Tokyo and European offices, in relation to matters such as M&A transactions, compliance, regulation including competition law and tech regulation, IP law and contentious matters that relate not only to EU law but also more generally to business dealings that occur between Europe and Japan.