Mr. Wells specializes in financing and banking transactions, including cross-border equipment leasing, project finance, and sovereign credit financings. He has for almost a decade represented various United States, French, German and English banks providing credit in connection with Japanese leverage lease transactions. Mr. Wells also has represented lessors and lessees in these transactions.
Mr. Wells' corporate experience includes representations in connection with the formation and subsequent operation of several of the largest multi-jurisdictional joint ventures in Japan. He also has assisted numerous United States, French, and other foreign international corporate groups in the establishment of business presences in Japan.
In the intellectual property area, Mr. Wells represents the Business Software Alliance (an organization composed of the major United States software publishers) and has principal responsibility for the coordination of their sofware piracy enforcement program in Japan. Mr. Wells also has assisted various United States computer hardware manufacturers in Japan in connection with various licensing and dispute resolution matters.
Mr. Wells has experience in handling Japanese transfer pricing tax matters, provides tax advice with respect to corporate reorganizations of Japan based operations, and tax opinions and advice with respect to the tax treatment of new financial products.