Speakers & Panelists

 

 

 

Ambassador Michael George DeSombre 

Asia Lead (Mergers & Acquisitions practice) and head of both Korea and Southeast Asia practices, Sullivan & Cromwell 

Ambassador Michael George DeSombre is recognized as one of the preeminent M&A and private equity lawyers in the world and is a frequent speaker on the art of negotiation. Ambassador DeSombre rejoined the firm in Fall 2021 after having served as the United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand from 2020 through 2021. Ambassador DeSombre leads the Asia Mergers & Acquisitions practice and also heads both the Korea and Southeast Asia practices for Sullivan & Cromwell.

Since moving to Hong Kong in 1997, he has focused his practice on public and private merger and acquisition transactions, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures and direct investments in China, Korea, Southeast Asia and elsewhere in Asia. Ambassador DeSombre is fluent in Mandarin and has some ability in Korean

 

 

 

 

Charles Slattery, Senior Counsel Electrification, ABB 

Charles is an experienced legal and governance professional who oversees the legal function for the Electrification business of ABB in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. He is responsible for all legal, integrity and compliance matters that arise in these regions, including corporate and commercial transactions, employment, regulatory, property, data protection, M&A and disputes.

He has previously worked at industry leading listed organizations in Australia and NZ and prior to that as an M&A and ECM lawyer in private practice in Australia.

 

 

Christopher Koh, Partner, Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions, Allen & Gledhill LLP 

 

Christopher’s areas of practice encompass mergers and acquisitions, private equity and corporate advisory work for financial institutions and public companies listed on the Singapore Exchange.

He has extensive experience in domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions across a broad range of industries and has acted for financial institutions, publicly listed companies, multinational corporations and private equity firms in various corporate and M&A transactions, with a focus on public takeovers, private investments in public equity and privatisations. He also advises publicly listed companies regularly on their continuing disclosure obligations under the listing rules of the Singapore Exchange.

Christopher graduated from the National University of Singapore with an LLB (Hons) degree in 1999 and obtained an LLM from Columbia University in 2002, where he graduated as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Christopher lectures on takeovers and mergers and facilitates practice sessions for the Advanced Corporate Practice modules of the Singapore Bar Examinations.

Christopher is recognised as a leading lawyer for Corporate/M&A by asialaw Leading Lawyers, Chambers Global, Chambers Asia-Pacific, IFLR1000 and The Legal 500 Asia Pacific.

Dusk Lim, Head of Enterprise Business, Diligent 

Dusk heads the enterprise business for Diligent in Asia and he aims to bring the best ESG and GRC solutions to enterprises in Asia to help them manage their risks better. He has been in the GRC domain for close to 10 years and has worked with clients across Asia.

 

Dewi Radin Amir, Commercial Director, Southeast Asia, LexisNexis 

Her areas of responsibility include developing new ideas and products, innovating and developing market opportunities within the SEA market by leveraging on LexisNexis’s strength in content and cutting edge new technologies such as analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning. She leads a team of Product Managers, Content Specialists and Technology leads who are continuously creating new and exciting products to delight our customers.

She brings with her more than 20 years of experience in business development, commercial and market development, strategy and general management in various capacity and industry in large corporates, global organisation and start-ups. She has led and delivered multiple projects ranging from product and system development, business turnaround, corporate restructuring, M&A, new market entry and high value consultancy. She holds a degree in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering from University of Hull, UK and MBA (Finance) from University of Nottingham, UK.

She is passionate about and committed to improving the culture of Inclusion & Diversity and truly believes each of us have the responsibility to make the world more inclusive for everyone; in particular issues related to improving access to education and opportunity for women, the differently abled and marginalised communities. She is an avid reader, loves puzzles and numbers and cooks on her free time.

 

 

 

 

 

James Perry, Managing Director, Asia Pacific Technology Investment Banking  

 

James is Co-head of Asia Pacific Technology & Communications Investment Banking for Citigroup. After first joining Citigroup in New York in 1997, James rejoined in Singapore at the end of 2020 from a tech start-up where he was CFO.

James has helped tech companies raise over $160 billion, including proceeds from 40 IPOs, and advised on over $100 billion in M&A. Over this time, he spent a decade in Palo Alto, California, on the M&A team and a decade in Hong Kong running the tech team.

He graduated from the Pennsylvania State University where he received degrees in Finance, International Business and French.

 

 

 

 

John Cordova, Director & Deputy General Counsel, Grab 

 

John oversees Grab's fundraising, M&A, and venture capital activities from a legal and executions perspective. He also mentors and guides Grab's local GCs on regulatory and operational matters.   John Grab's legal deal team that listed Grab on NASDAQ and closed the Grab/Uber Southeast Asia transaction.  He was instrumental in growing Rajah & Tann's ASEAN footprint, and practiced with two Magic Circle firms (Freshfields and Clifford Chance) for over 13 years, across four jurisdictions: Bangkok, Hong Kong, London, and Singapore.

 

 

 

 

 

Joseph Smart, General Counsel - Head of Compliance, and Interim Head of Risk Asia, QBE 

Joe joined QBE in 2019 as General Counsel of QBE Asia. Since then, Joe has broadened his role, taking on responsibility for the Corporate Secretarial Risk and Compliance functions.

Prior to joining QBE, Joe spent over nine years at AIG where he held various positions in commercial insurance teams with increasing levels of responsibility. His most recent role in London was as the lawyer responsible for Global Risk Solutions across the UK and EMEA, which included the areas of fronting (captive programmes), non-conventional insurance (deductible indemnity structures), alternative risk solutions (risk finance), reinsurance and multinational.

In 2017, Joe relocated his family to Singapore and took a dual role with AIG as General Counsel Commercial APAC and Reinsurance Counsel. In August 2018, Joe became the General Counsel for AIG Hong Kong and Macau.

 

 

 

 

Nirev Shah, Head of Legal – Singapore, Xendit 

Nirev is the Head of Legal, Singapore, with the Xendit Group, a fintech unicorn. Nirev heads the company's Singapore legal team and provides leadership, legal expertise and support for the company's expansion in new regional markets. With over 12 years of diverse legal experience, Nirev has honed his expertise in corporate commercial, transactional, compliance and disputes work in the fintech, HVAC, manufacturing & maritime industries. 

Prior to joining Xendit, Nirev served as a Regional Corporate Counsel (MEA & ASEAN) with Rheem Manufacturing Company and sat on Rheem's MEA & ASEAN management teams. In addition to his legal role, Nirev gained expertise in business as the Business Development Manager for Rheem's ASEAN business. Nirev has also gained valuable experience as in-house counsel with an SGX-Listed company as well as in private practice with market-leading domestic and international law practices. 

 In his free time, he is actively involved in facilitating negotiation sessions for the Singapore SILE bar course and in facilitation with volunteer organisations such as Soliya. Nirev is a big believer in Alternate Dispute Resolution and is a qualified and accredited mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre. Nirev has served on a number of practice committees of the Law Society of Singapore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prachi Dave, Managing partner, Dhaval Vussonji & Associates 

Prachi is the Managing Partner at Dhaval Vussonji & Associates. She regularly advises banks, funds, real estate conglomerates on vanilla loans, mezzanine funding, structured finance and debt securities. Her deep understanding of how the banking and financial services sector operates in India, and how money lending laws tie in with prevalent regional market practices, is sought after by leading financial institutions and borrowers alike. Prachi has also been involved in advising various capital market transactions such as initial public offerings, buy back issues, FCCB issues and open offer for takeovers. She has led the way in paving the practice area of insolvency resolution including being involved in the insolvency resolution for Binani Cements, Bharati Shipyards and others.

Steve Tan, Partner Deputy Head, Technology, Media & Telecommunications, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP 

Steve is a Partner and Deputy Head in Rajah & Tann Singapore’s TMT practice group. Steve practices Data Protection, Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Intellectual Property, and Digital Media / Entertainment law. He has been recognized as a leading lawyer for media and telecommunications in the PLC Cross-border Media and Communications Handbook; and for TMT work in the Asia Pacific Legal 500 2010 to 2022; the AsiaLaw Profiles; the Practical Law Company Which Lawyer; and Chambers Asia Pacific 2013 to 2022. Steve is also cited as a leading lawyer for Technology law, Media law and/or Information Technology law in Best Lawyers 2013 to 2022, in The International Who’s Who of Telecoms and Media Lawyers and in Who’s Who Legal : Data 2019 to 2022 for Telecoms & Media, Data Security, and Data Privacy & Protection. Steve is recognized as a Distinguished Practitioner for Technology and Communications in Asialaw Leading Lawyers 2020, 2021. Steve won Corporate Insider Business Excellence Award 2019 ‘Communication Lawyer of the Year – Singapore’. Steve is cited as “one of the best in the field of personal data protection” in Legal 500 2017. In Chambers Asia Pacific 2019, Steve receives praise from a client who characterises him as a "truly dedicated and passionate TMT lawyer. His knowledge in data protection laws and understanding of policymaking are key. His wealth of experience in this area of law gives me the confidence that I have been advised by one of the best in class.”. In Legal 500 2019, Steve is cited as being “one of the gurus in the field of data protection”. Steve achieved top 10 in the Financial Times (FT) Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers Award 2019. In Legal 500 2020, a client gave testimony that “Steve Tan has great depth of knowledge for PDPA matters. Strategic, sound in advice and very responsive.”.  Steve was additionally picked as a top 30 individual practitioner worldwide for Privacy and Data Protection in Best of the Best Global Expert Guide 2019. In 2022, Steve was awarded ALB Asia’s Top 15 TMT Lawyers 2022.

Steve co-founded and is a Director of (i) Rajah & Tann Technologies Pte Ltd, a company that provides technical solutions to help organisations navigate the digital economy such as contract management, e-discovery, e-learning; and (ii) Rajah & Tann Cybersecurity Pte Ltd, a company specialising in cybersecurity and data breach incident response.

Steve is Adjunct Professor of the Faculty of Law of the National University of Singapore, teaching Privacy & Data Protection law.

Steve is an Asia Advisory Board member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

Steve is the author of a chapter in the 2nd edition of the authoritative book ‘Data Protection Law in Singapore – Privacy and Sovereignty in an Interconnected World’ published in 2018 by the Singapore Academy of Law on the topic ‘Data Protection and New Technologies’. Steve is also a regular co-author of a chapter in the Personal Data Protection Commission’s yearly publication from 2017 to 2023.

 

Omar Mahmood, Legal Solutions Advisor, Thomson Reuters 

Omar has worked at Thomson Reuters since March 2018 and works as a Legal Solutions Advisor, focusing on legal software (HighQ and Legal Tracker) and content databases (Westlaw, Practical Law, Practical Compliance and Regulatory Intelligence). He is acutely aware of the day-to-day challenges that professionals in the industry face. He advises on how technology can be adopted to enhance business operations and improve productivity.

Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, Omar completed his LLB (2009) and LPC (2013) at the University of Manchester and the University of Law respectively. Since then, he has worked as a paralegal in London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi; both in private practice and in-house.

 

Thomas Chuang, Solutions Consultant, Thomson Reuters 

Thomas Chuang is a Solutions Consultant at Thomson Reuters. His nine years of experience in the legal industry has spanned many of its facets, from private practice to business development and most recently, in the legal technology sector. Through his past six years in the legal technology space, Thomas has focused primarily on the areas of workflow automation for lawyers and the application of artificial intelligence to the legal industry.”

 

Tim de Souza, Senior Director, FTI Consulting

Tim de Sousa is a strategic and operational privacy expert with more than 17 years of experience. Tim works at the intersection of privacy, information governance, emerging technologies and digital transformation in both the public and private sectors. His expertise spans Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and the European Union.

Tim supports corporate and government clients in establishing and optimising their privacy compliance postures, enabling effective digital transformation and building trusted relationships with their customers. This includes the provision of practical policy advice, governance and compliance management strategy, regulator and stakeholder management, data breach response and education and training to enable best practice privacy and information governance.

 

Nathalia Lossovska, Head of Legal, South and Southeast Asia, Willis Towers Watson

Nathalia leads all contentious and non-contentious legal operations in WTW’s South and Southeast Asia region.  Together with her regional team, Nathalia handles a broad spectrum of legal and compliance matters ranging from commercial and employment disputes and investigations to M&A transactions.  She is regarded by her peers and colleagues as a problem solver who is skilled at commercial solutions and balancing risks.

Nathalia, originally Ukrainian, has lived and worked in The Netherlands and England and is now a proud Singaporean.  She is an active Board member of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), Singapore Chapter, where she promotes the pro-bono and charitable initiatives.  Nathalia is also a member of the ICC Engagement Sub-Committee where she plays an active role in offering in-house perspectives on dispute resolution.  Nathalia is a champion of inclusion & diversity and the continual development and empowerment of young professionals. 

 

Adrian Ooi, Director of Legal, SEA, Millenium Hotels & Resorts 

Adrian Ooi currently provides legal services, consultation, and operations management for all 6 Millennium & Copthorne Singapore hotels, as well as the other hotels located in the South-East Asia region. He handles the dispute resolution process, the data protection compliance as well as corporate financing support for the M&C group treasury. Providing support to the other various functions such as global marketing, loyalty programmes, hospitality systems and global IT services, Adrian works closely with the business leaders in promulgating Blue Ocean value.  Having governmental and public office exposure, he served as Senior Legal Counsel in the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (“CAAS”) for close to a year, and served about 4 years as Deputy Public Prosecutor, assisting the Attorney General and senior prosecutors in enforcing Singapore’s rule of law. He handled theft and property related offences,including financial fraud, complicated Ponzi scams and money laundering matters. He further dealt with bribery, corruption, capital siphoning and other corruption cases in a senior role. He holds an Masters in Accountancy and Finance, and 2 bachelor’s degrees, the first being an L.L.B. (2nd Class Upper Honours), and the other being B.Sc in Applied Accountancy (1st Class Honours). He is a fellow of both ACCA and CIArb. He also completed recently the Graduate Certificate in International Arbitration at the prestigious NUS.

 

Mekhla Basu,  Senior Director, Head of Ethics & .Legal Compliance – APAC, Otis Elevator Co. 

Mekhla Basu is senior executive with experience in advising top multinationals on legal and compliance matters in the Greater Asia Region. In her current role, Mekhla serves as Senior Director, Ethics and Compliance for APAC with Otis. In past roles Mekhla has headed both legal and ethics and compliance functions for Splunk, Intel, IBM covering General Counsel responsibilities in the APAC, Japan and ANZ region. Mekhla has proficiently provided corporate consultancy to management & board of directors in large MNCs like Autodesk, GE and Unilever; has in-depth competence in corporate commercial laws, competition law, IP, e-commerce & privacy laws, labour & employment, corporate governance & ethical landscape, risk mitigation and other complex legal issues applicable to MNCs in industries like FMCG, Pharma, Tech and Manufacturing. 

 

Elaine Chew, Vice President, Group Data Protection Officer, Frasers Property 

Elaine Chew is Group Data Protection Officer at Frasers Property. Previously, she served in the same capacity at Changi Airport Group. As a lawyer qualified at the Singapore and New York Bar, Elaine works at the intersection of technology, privacy and the law to create effective solutioning of business issues. She has had wide cross-sectoral experience, across private practice, academia, judiciary and policy making, prior to going in house. Elaine is concurrently an Adjunct Assistant Professor with the NUS Faculty of Law, and also serves as Vice President of AsiaDPO, a self-organising peer-to-peer community of practicing Data Protection Officers.

 

April Raimundo, Senior Director Legal and Compliance, Greystar 

April heads Legal and Compliance for Greystar’s Asia-Pacific business and was their first employee in Singapore. In this role, she oversees Greystar’s Code of Conduct and regulatory compliance program in the region. In addition, April spearheads legal structuring, investor documentation and acquisition activities as Greystar, the global leader in rental housing continues to invest across the region. Prior to Greystar, April was the Chief Legal and Compliance officer of EFA Group – a Singapore headquartered fund manager specializing in non-banking financial services. She served as a member of the executive committee and is credited for setting up EFA Group’s global legal and compliance framework. During her private practice career, April was in the corporate and commercial group of Quisumbing Torres, a member firm of Baker McKenzie.  April is qualified to practice law in England and Wales, and the Philippines. She was named one of 5 in house counsels in the 2016 edition of Asian Legal Business’ 40 Under 40 and was included in the Legal 500’s Asia Pacific GC Powerlist in 2022. She also sat in the International Relations Committee and Public Law Help Committee of the Law Society of Singapore. 

 

Joanna Wang, General Counsel, Insilico Medicine 

Joanna Wang leads Insilico’s global legal team covering corporate transactions, AI-driven drug discovery deals, clinical operations, AI development, corporate governance, IP, etc. She is also nominated for the ALB Legal Awards Woman Lawyer of the Year – In-house in 2023.  

 

 

May-Ann Lim, Director of Fair Tech Institute, Access Partnership 

May-Ann is the Director of the Fair Tech Institute at technology consultancy firm Access Partnership, and is concurrently the Emeritus Director of the Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA). She has worked extensively on technology policy development, including next gen data governance policies, digital economy, ICTs for development, cloud and data centre policy, data protection and cybersecurity. She has worked with global multilaterals such as APEC, ASEAN, PECC, INTERPOL, UNIDIR, FELEBAN, and the ACCA on thought leadership development, government outreach and stakeholder engagement efforts. A strong advocate for digital inclusion and sustainability, May-Ann volunteers as a young professionals mentor with Advisory Singapore, and is Chairman of the Board (2023-2024) for nonprofit organisation Engineering Good, which focuses on assistive technology and digital inclusion of the underprivileged and disabled.

 

 

 

 

 

Arthur Oon Yong Hong, Head of Legal and Compliance, Novo Nordisk 

Legal experience (2007 to 2014):

1. Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya - called to the Malaysia Bar in 2007;

2. Legal Associate at Messrs. Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill (specializing in Corporate and Conveyancing) (2009 to 2014);

In-house corporate experience: 

3. Bayer Malaysia (2014 to 2019) as Head of Legal, Patents & Compliance; 

4. Novo Nordisk Pharma Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei - Director of Legal & Compliance since 2009 (Current position) with a one-year stretch assignment to include Novo Nordisk Sri Lanka & Maldives from 2020 to 2021.  

Carolina Rios, Head of Legal and Government Relations, Quarkonix 

Based in Korea for more than ten years, Carolina is a multilingual business attorney and blockchain expert with a Ph.D. in International Law from Korea University and a doctoral dissertation about crypto assets & comparative legal studies on crypto regulation. Carolina positioned her first steps into the blockchain industry in 2017 when she worked at the Korea Bitcoin Center as a legal intern. Since then, she has helped international corporations, governments, and startups progress in their business engagement with NFTs, blockchain-based applications, and recently on strategies on license acquisitions. Currently, Carolina is Head of Legal and Government Relations at Quarkonix, a blockchain project originated from the Korean tech giant Kakao Corporation. At Quarkonix, she leads the new license acquisition strategy globally after performing as Director of Global Partnership at Klaynt Foundation. Carolina commenced her career at the Presidential Agency of Colombia as a legal advisor. Shea holds an MSc. in International Affairs and speaks English, Spanish, and Korean.

 

Piyush Gupta, Senior Corporate Counsel, Singapore Airlines Limited 

Piyush is an experienced corporate lawyer with more than two decades of experience, both as an in-house counsel as well as a private practitioner. Piyush has advised clients on the full range of matters covering aviation, corporate finance, corporate regulatory, competition compliance and FCPA/anti-bribery matters in senior advisory capacities across Asia.

 

Piyush is a certified data privacy professional and keen advocate for ESG-related issues, having spearheaded the ESG practice in his previous organization. His articles on the juxtaposition of ESG and legal obligations as well as ESG reporting and the challenges thereof post-pandemic recovery, were widely circulated through various international publications.

 

Piyush has published literature in prestigious newspapers and industry journals such as Singapore Law Gazette, Business Standard, Aviation World, Asia Legal Business, Robotics Law Journal, Asian Counsel, India Business Law Journal, Legally India and Legal Era and has consistently been ranked by international publications like Asia Legal 500, Chambers & Partners and Asialaw in the last few years.

 

 

 

 

 

Cathy Chan, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer - APAC, CBRE Investment Management 

Cathy Chan is the APAC General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer of CBRE Investment Management, a leading real assets investment firm with USD149.3 billion of assets under management. In her role, Cathy sits on the APAC Investment Committee and oversees all fund formations, transactions and regulatory affairs across APAC, including the major markets of China, Japan, Korea, Australia, Hong Kong SAR and Singapore.

Cathy has previously undertaken a secondment at private equity firm KKR, worked in the private equity teams of King & Wood Mallesons and Baker & McKenzie, and worked in the M&A/capital markets’ team of the Australian corporate regulator ASIC. In 2022, Cathy’s team was recognised as 'Construction and Real Estate In-House Team of the Year' at the Asian Legal Business SEA Awards.

 

 

 

 

Cori Lable, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP 

Cori Lable leads Kirkland & Ellis’ Government & Internal Investigations group in Hong Kong. She concentrates her practice on advising multinational clients including private equity firms, alternative investors, and strategics throughout Asia on international risks related to cross-border investments and operations, including corruption, money laundering, economic sanctions, and financial fraud, and defends clients facing regulatory investigations in these areas.  Cori has been named as a leading anti-corruption practitioner for China and India by Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, Chambers Greater China, Chambers Asia-Pacific, Chambers Global, and India Business Law Journal.

Daniel lo, Chief Legal Officer, Cake DeFi 

Daniel Lo is a legal professional and legaltech enthusiast, currently serving as the Chief Legal Officer of Cake DeFi, a leading cryptocurrency platform in South-east Asia. With over a decade of experience in the legal industry, Daniel has a passion for creating innovative solutions that combine technology and law to streamline legal processes. His background is in asset management and private equity, having worked at UBS, Walkers and Dentons. He is a frequent speaker on web3 and legaltech, and is committed to promoting innovation in the legal industry.

 

 

 

 

Desmond Chua, Head of APAC, Datasite 

Desmond Chua is Head of APAC, who joined Datasite (formerly Merrill Corporation) in 2014.

Desmond is responsible for business development including driving growth and innovation for Datasite clients through the implementation of Datasite solutions that power thousands of deals in more than 180 countries, including 74 of the top 100 legal firms. Datasite’s products are used by professionals across banking, capital markets, insurance, legal, healthcare, energy, and other global sectors and markets.

Desmond has strong relationships with C-suite executives across APAC and is passionate about understanding the clients who place their trust in Datasite to complete their most important transactions.

Prior to joining Datasite, Desmond led a team that provided bespoke, top-tier liquidity solutions for banks, brokers, funds and trading desks. He has been regularly featured on Channel News Asia, BBC, and ET Now, discussing market outlook and trading strategies. He has also been quoted in the media and newswires – CNBC, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, AFP, Straits Times, and Today.

Frenky Tjioe, Chief Compliance Officer, Evren 

Frenky Tjioe is currently the Chief Compliance Officer of Evren, responsible for legal, regulatory compliance and security compliance works in a tech company providing enterprise desktop operating system. His prior appointments include Chief Information Security Officer at AirAsia Group, and Head of Information Security Compliance and DPO at Lazada Group. He holds an LL.B. (Hons) and CISSP. 

 

 

 

 

Joey David Yeo, Founder and CEO, Visionnaires Capital Pte Ltd 

Joey David Yeo is an accomplished entrepreneur and corporate finance expert with a track record of success spanning over a decade. As the founder and CEO of Visionnaires Capital Pte Ltd, a leading boutique Corporate finance and M&A advisory firm that he established in 2010, Joey has demonstrated his exceptional leadership skills and expertise in M&A transactions on both the buy and sell sides. Under his leadership, Visionnaires Capital has achieved numerous successful transactions, including his largest transaction to date, valued at an impressive US$200-300 million.

As a specialist in cross-border M&A, Joey has successfully negotiated deals with buyers from various parts of the world, including Japan, India, Hong Kong, Europe, and the United States. His expertise and deep understanding of global markets have been instrumental in securing deals and creating value for his clients.

In addition to his corporate finance and advisory work, Joey is a successful investor in early-stage startups. He has invested in several startups and has successfully exited three of the six companies in his portfolio. Joey's investment acumen and entrepreneurial spirit are a testament to his passion for innovation and his dedication to creating value.

Joey is a proud father of three and enjoys spending time with his family. When he's not busy with work or family, he is a passionate football fan and loves to stay active by playing the beautiful game. Joey's drive, passion, and success are an inspiration to many and a testament to his unwavering commitment to excellence in all aspects of his life.

 

 

 

 

Phil Damerell, Tech Director - M&A, GSK 

Phil acts as the single point of accountability for the delivery of Tech projects, strategies and services for supply chain and manufacturing functions in M&A deals within GSK. Phil originally moved to Asia in 2015 to deploy SAP to manufacturing sites in the region and has since had various roles across tech including in data, commercial and business intelligence. This made him well placed to lead the APAC tech integration for GSK’s joint venture with Pfizer in 2019 before looking after a portfolio of M&A deals and projects in the supply chain.

 

Vorapol (Brook) Supanusonti, Co-Founder, Managing Director & Thailand Country Head, Asia Partner 

Brook is the Co-Founder, Managing Director & Thailand Country Head of Asia Partners.

He was previously with Sea (NYSE:SE), one of the leading consumer internet companies in Southeast Asia, as a senior member of its corporate development team. At Sea, Mr. Supanusonti oversaw Sea’s investment program, focusing on Seed & Series A technology companies in Southeast Asia. He was part of the core team that led the company’s landmark initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2017, raising approximately US$1Bn in primary capital.

Prior to Sea, Mr. Supanusonti spent approximately a decade as a private equity investor focusing on Southeast Asia with TPG (2016-2017), General Atlantic (2013-2016), and Temasek Holdings (2009-2013). He played an active role in over US$2.4Bn worth of transactions in Southeast Asia in sectors spanning from technology, consumer, logistics, and education, to real estate.

Mr. Supanusonti earned a B.B.A in Finance and a B.Sc. in Economics from Singapore Management University where he was a Lee Kong Chian Scholar and graduated summa cum laude

Yak Chau Wei, Founder and CEO, GAO Advisors 

Yak Chau Wei is a director of GAO Advisors which specializes in providing valuation and financial investigative services in dispute resolution and litigation in Singapore. She is also CEO of GAO Capital, a fund management company founded in 2008. Chau Wei’s extensive corporate finance experience at JPMorgan and UBS Investment Bank, in their New York, Tokyo, and London offices, has enabled her to provide specialist support to cross-border clients for complex investigations and valuation matters. Chau Wei relocated the firm’s headquarters back to Singapore in 2010 and has been operating in the Asia Pacific region for over a decade.

 

Kay Pang, Deputy Chief Compliance Officer, VMware Inc 

Kay Pang is an IT attorney with more than 23 years of experience in corporate, commercial and compliance. She is  currently the Deputy Chief Compliance Officer, Senior Director and Associate General Counsel, at VMware Inc. She was previously the APAC Legal Head of Enterprise, Software & Cloud in Hewlett-Packard, and APAC Legal Head in Cloudera Inc, a US-based Big Data and AI software company. Prior to her in-house tech career, Kay practised banking at Allen & Overy LLC, and litigation at Drew & Napier LLC.  Kay is qualified as a Barrister-at-law in England and Wales, and as an Advocate & Solicitor in Singapore. Her academic and professional education includes legal and business certifications from INSEAD, MIT, Stanford, Cardiff Law School and Sheffield University. Kay's strengths lie in her strategic business partnering of executive management teams, large deal negotiations and risk assessment. She has a keen focus on driving practical, business-oriented solutions. Kay is also experienced in guiding businesses through corporate change management, ethics and compliance challenges, M&A/integrations, IPO, and spearheading transformative processes and procedures. She has broad Asia and WW exposure with ability to lead and communicate well with teams from diverse backgrounds and cultures.

 

Nadia Ribeiro, Regional Director, Compliance MENAP & APAC, Checkout.com 

Nadia is a lawyer in the tech scene. Currently, she's the Head of Compliance and Regional Director for MENAP & APAC regions at Checkout.com. She started her career as a lawyer at DLA Piper covering EMEA regions. In the last couple of years, she worked based in Angola, Dubai and currently Singapore based, covering both MENAP and APAC regions.  She is 14 PQ experienced in legal, compliance & the regulatory landscape in Tech, Fintech & Payments sectors, helping tech companies building their programs, obtaining and maintaining their licenses with financial regulators and building specialised teams in the legal and compliance space across the world. In the last few years, she has developed a particular interest in the crypto & blockchain legal and regulatory compliance verticals.

Naveen Bhardwaj, Associate Director Legal & Compliance, Terumo Asia Pacific 

Naveen Bhardwaj is Associate Director – Legal and Compliance at Terumo Asia Holdings Pte Ltd, the APAC regional headquarters of Terumo Corporation. Terumo is a global medical technology company from Japan. Naveen leads the Legal and Compliance function of Terumo in APAC and is responsible for designing, implementing, and monitoring Terumo’s Global Compliance Program in the APAC region. Naveen is a qualified lawyer, with law degree (LL.B) from University of Delhi (India), a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP-I), and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).

Pujarini S G Maulik, SVP Legal and Privacy Head, InMobi & Glance Group 

With 18 years of experience as an in-house counsel, I am currently with InMobi as SVP Legal and heading a team of 20 in-house lawyers managing products and services that percolate 100+ countries. Mobile is the backbone of online advertising and smartphones have ensured that users are now consuming content on phones like never before, so, my exposure in InMobi / Glance has been diverse and nothing short of illuminating starting with setting up a team from scratch. I also head the Privacy function of InMobi and Glance Group steering privacy governance across BUs.

 

Ranajit Dam, Managing Editor - Legal Media Group, Thomson Reuters 

Ranajit Dam is the Managing Editor of Thomson Reuters Legal Media Group, which includes Asian Legal Business, Asia’s foremost monthly publication covering the legal industry. A former lawyer, Dam has been a journalist for more than 15 years, after graduating from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Since then, he has worked in the United States, India, China and Singapore, where he is currently based.

Rinita Daniati, Head of Legal Healthcare for SEA and ANZ, Merck Group 

Rinita Daniati, is an experienced In-house counsel with 20 years of experience and has profound knowledge of legal issues and regulations in the pharmaceutical industry as well as in area of mining and telecommunications. She contributed her hardworking skills and knowledge in Legal and Corporate issues in various business scopes with a current role as the Head of Legal Healthcare for Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand in Merck Group. As a team leader, Rinita together with her team has been nominated for the ALB Indonesia Legal award as Pharmaceutical and Healthcare in-house team of the year for two years in a row.  Indonesian born and raised, in her spare time, Rinita enjoys traveling, read a good book and spending time with her husband and teenage son.

 

Hazel Tang, Counsel, Secretariat of ICC International Court of Arbitration 

Hazel Tang is the Counsel in charge of the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration for the case management team based in Singapore.

As Counsel, Hazel oversees the arbitrations commenced under the ICC Rules in Asia, particularly arbitrations seated in India.

Before that, Hazel was a partner with a leading regional firm, with a decade of experience in international arbitration, litigation, adjudication and mediation proceedings in the construction and infrastructure industry.

 

Rishi Ganiswaran, Head of Legal (Technology) & Chief of Privacy Officer, Yinson Group of Companies 

Rishi holds a double degree in Electrical Engineering and Law. He was called to the Singapore Bar in 2012, admitted in NSW, Australia as a solicitor in 2009 and also an accredited mediator. Currently Rishi is the Head of Legal (Technology) and Chief Privacy Officer of the Yinson Group of Companies, an energy infrastructure and technology MNC. His vast experience includes commercial and civil litigation, mergers and acquisitions, general corporate work, intellectual property, data privacy, information technology, cybersecurity and other legal matters covering broad corporate, commercial, regulatory, licensing and advisory issues. Rishi is a firm advocate of pro bono legal work, and regularly dedicates time in dealing with bro bono matters.

 

Tarun Samtani, International SOS, DPO/PPM & IAPP Advisory Board member 

Tarun is a Privacy Leader with a background in Data Security, Privacy and Data Protection. Formerly the Global Privacy Manager for Qantas Group that includes Qantas Airlines, Jetstar Airlines and Qantas Loyalty, Tarun brings over two decades of experience working in various industries such as Retail, Telecoms, Leisure, Airlines, E-commerce, and Banking across global organisations. His specialisation includes operationalising Privacy, working with global Privacy legislations across 90+ countries building & leading progressive, pragmatic and sustainable Data Privacy programmes. With strong business acumen, he has the ability to bridge the gap between technical, legal and regulatory landscapes. Tarun currently holds various certifications in Information Security and Data Privacy (ISC2 CISSP, ISACA CISM & IAPP CIPM). He is a member, Chapter Chair, and Asia Advisory Board Member for IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals). Previously, he has also been the Advisory Board Member for Cybersecurity and Privacy startups. He has been interviewed by various UK publications including BBC and regularly addresses the global audiences at various international conferences.

 

Samson Leo, Chief Legal Officer, FAZZ Financial Group 

Samson Leo is currently the Chief Legal Officer of Fazz and Xfers, which are both high-growth “Fintech 250” companies. Since his time as co-founder and Chief Legal Officer in Xfers, he has grown Xfers from a 3-person start-up to a regional company with more than 200 people across Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam and Philippines, and now more than 800 people in the merger to form Fazz. Today, he heads the Fazz Financial Group’s legal team of 6 legal counsels in Singapore & Indonesia, and oversees the Fazz Compliance committee consisting of senior compliance professionals and their team. Samson’s external partners and stakeholders welcome his “collaborative mindset” and his ability to “construct workable solutions in challenging situations” and “successfully [lead] complex contract negotiations that involve the management and alignment of interests from multiple stakeholders”. Samson has shown his “tenacity in dealing with legal, regulatory and financial-related challenges” and a “remarkable ability to manage legal and regulatory risks”.

 

 

 

 

 

Stanley Tan, APAC Regional Director – Legal, Menarini Asia-Pacific 

Stan heads Menarini's legal function in the APAC region, and is part of the Regional Management Committee. His portfolio includes competition and data privacy compliance, intellectual property, and corporate governance. He focuses in particular on business development transactions, and developing best practices for his legal teams across APAC.

Stan has nearly 18 years' of commercial and legal experience in the pharma, retail-FMCG, and industrials sectors, and was an M&A solicitor in a Magic Circle firm. He read law at the National University of Singapore, and is admitted in Singapore and England & Wales.

Prior to his legal career, Stan represented Singapore in sailing and has competed at the Sydney and Athens Olympic Games.

 

 

 

 

 

Swati Gupta Maheshwari, Director Legal, Dell Technologies 

 

Swati is a Director Legal with Dell Technologies for South Asia and Asia Emerging Market. Prior to this role Swati has held a few regional including leadership roles as Head of Legal Asia Pacific for BAE Systems (Digital Intelligence), Operations and Compliance Counsel South Asia for Baker Hughes and Asia Pacific Contracts Manager for Skillsoft. Swati completed her B.A. Political Science Hons from Miranda House Delhi University, Law Degree from ILS Law School, India and is a Legal Practitioner (Solicitor) for NSW Australia. She currently resides in Singapore with her spouse and two kids.

Wong Yi, General Counsel, Yeo Hiap Seng Ltd 

Wong Yi is the Group General Counsel of Yeo Hiap Seng (Yeos), a food & beverage conglomerate with a global network that spans the Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America and Oceanic regions. He is based in Singapore and is responsible for all legal matters across the group.

 

Lily Tsen, General Counsel, Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific 

Lily is the regional Counsel for Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific, a world leader in sustainable packaging solutions.  Based in Singapore, Lily is responsible for 13 countries in Asia Pacific and is known for her thoughtful and pragmatic approach towards leadership, enterprise risk management, strategy development and execution.  She has been recognised in the Legal GC Powerlist for Southeast Asia in 2019 and 2022, and more recently in the inaugural Green Southeast Asia Legal 500 GC Powerlist 2023.  She loves her family, outdoor activities, cooking, travel, learning, and people in general, and believes that awareness is the greatest agent for change.