Toshio Dokei

Partner Of Counsel, Tokyo

Biography

Leading individual for Project Finance in Japan and Banking in Japan.
IFLR1000 2014

Overview

A licensed Japanese attorney (Bengoshi), who spent eight years as an assistant judge, Toshio Dokei brings clients the benefit of his experience in financial transactions, notably project and acquisition finance, mergers and acquisitions and other corporate matters. His banking clients come to him for his judgement and experience in matters such as cross-border investments, export credit agency (ECA) finance, and syndicated loans in overseas and Japanese markets. As a competition lawyer, he represents clients in unfair trade practice cases before the Japan Fair Trade Commission. He has negotiated on disputes involving such issues as the abuse of superior bargaining positions and resale price maintenance claims. He also offers guidance to clients in respect of multijurisdictional cartel matters. He is a member of the Daini Tokyo Bar Association.
Bars and Courts
Japan
Education
PhD (Law)
Kobe University
LLM
University of Michigan Law School
LLB
University of Tokyo
Languages
Japanese
English

Experience

Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)
Representation of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) in a US$420 million loan to Minera Escondida Limitada, a Chilean company, to finance the expansion project of Escondida Copper Mine, the largest copper mine in the world. The other lenders include Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. The total co-financing amount is US$600 million. The sponsors are Mitsubishi Corporation, JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, BHP Billiton Group and Rio Tinto Group.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)
Representation of The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) regarding all aspects (including joint venture, acquisition, LNG offtake, financing and shipping) of its interest in the greenfield Wheatstone LNG Project in Australia, operated by Chevron. We advised on the acquisition of a 10% interest in the petroleum licenses covering the Wheatstone/ Iago gas fields, and an 8% interest in the related Wheatstone Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility, by the joint venture entity PE Wheatstone Pty Ltd (PEW). This is the largest equity investment to date by Japanese offtaker interests in an LNG project. This deal received an Honorable Mention in the ASIAN-MENA COUNSEL 2012.

JBIC/Commercial lenders
Representation of JBIC and the commercial lenders in the financing of two LNG tankers, constructed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, owned by Mitsubishi Corporation, and chartered to Chubu Electric for use on the Gorgon LNG and Ichthys LNG projects in Australia (TPS 1 and 2).

Bank loan lenders
Representation of the lenders in a JPY 165 billion (approximately US$2 billion) syndicated bank loan to eAccess Ltd., the Japanese internet service provider. This transaction was the first in the Japanese market to combine a syndicated loan with a simultaneous high yield bond, and was also noteworthy for using a Japanese security trust structure. This deal was also the first major syndicated telecommunications financing in Japan since the global financial crisis, and was named Best Leveraged Financing and Best International Bond for 2011 from AsiaMoney.

Publications

Recent Developments in EU Competition Law Enforcement (4) Merger Control, Kokusai Shoji Homu Vol.47, No. 8, August 2019, (co-author)

Recent Developments in EU Competition Law Enforcement (3) Financial Services Sector, Kokusai Shoji Homu Vol.47, No. 3, March 2019, (co-author)

Recent Developments in EU Competition Law Enforcement (2) Cartel, Kokusai Shoji Homu Vol.46, No. 3, September 2018, (co-author)

"Japan chapter" in The 2017 Global Renewable Energy Guide, (Ankara: Çakmak Publishing, 2018), (co-author) 

Managing legal risks related to unauthorized intellectual property and US unfair competition laws, NBL No. 999, April 15, 2013, (co-author)

Practical Issues Concerning Abuse of Superior Bargaining Position, NBL No. 990, December 1, 2012, (co-author)

A New Approach to Secured Syndicated Loans Through the Parallel Debt Structure – How Foreign Countries are applying the Structure and Its Positioning in the Japanese Legal System, NBL No. 952, May 1, 2011 and No. 953, May 15, 2011

Awards and Recognition

Leading Individual: Bengoshi: Projects and Energy: International Firms and Joint Ventures—Japan, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022

Leading Lawyer: Competition/Antitrust—Japan, Chambers Asia-Pacific 2022

Leading Individual: Bengoshi: Antitrust and Competition: International Firms and Joint Ventures—Japan, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022

Leading Lawyer (Highly Regarded): Banking, Project Finance—Japan, IFLR1000 2021