Name: FFA University - Asia Pacific
Start: 2024-03-20T09:00:00Z
End: 2024-03-21T13:00:00Z

James Abbott

Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Navigating the Credit Agreement

9:00 AM | 2024-03-21

James Abbott

Partner | Corrs Chambers Westgarth

James is a financing specialist whose practice spans project, corporate and acquisition financing transactions and fund level financing, with a particular focus on the infrastructure and energy and resources sectors.

James has advised both sponsors and lenders on major greenfield and brownfield projects throughout Australia and Southeast Asia and has experience in syndicated and multi-source debt financing, capital call, NAV and GP financings.

James is Partner in Charge of the Sydney office.

Fi Dinh

MUFG Investor Services

Navigating the Credit Agreement

9:00 AM | 2024-03-21

Fi Dinh

Managing Director, Head of Fund Finance APAC | MUFG Investor Services

Fi is Managing Director, Head of Fund Finance APAC at MUFG Investor Services where she lead the expansion of the firm’s fund financing business across Asia Pacific, as well as supporting the growth of the asset servicing and fund administration business globally to assist private capital funds with their liquidity and operational needs.

Fi is a familiar face of the fund finance community globally having supported the growth of this sector for over a decade across the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia markets. She was recognized in The Drawdown’s ‘Most Influential Fund Finance Experts of 2022’ globally. Fi is also active in supporting diversity and next generation development in the industry. She was one of the first members of the Women in Fund Finance Europe committee when she was in London and is co-chair of the Women in Fund Finance APAC since 2020.

Fi pioneered the global trend of ESG-linked fund finance facilities when she led the world’s first ESG-linked subscription credit facility in 2019, marrying the sustainability-linked loan technology that was gaining momentum in other sectors at individual company or asset level, to a portfolio framework that can be applied to PE funds even at the beginning stage of their lifecycle. She sits on the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Financial Centre Advisory Panel (FCAP) – Green Finance working group for the fund management industry since 2020.

Fi moved to Singapore from London at the start of 2019 to help build out the fund and insurance finance business for ING Bank across in APAC and led a rapid expansion of the business within a short few years, by offering creative solutions to GPs, drawing on her extensive experience with market terms in the US and Europe to promote alignments and scalability for the product in the APAC region. Before ING, Fi spent nearly a decade at Barclays in London and Dubai, where she was Director in the Financial Institutions Group and helped build a successful Private Equity coverage franchise supporting financial sponsors and alternative asset managers in EMEA and the US. Her earlier banking career spans across credit analysis, operational risk and project management in the investment banking and corporate banking divisions.

Makiko Harunari

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Who Does What, and What Goes Where – Deciphering Fund Structures

10:00 AM | 2024-03-20

Makiko Harunari

Partner | Head of Asia Banking and Credit | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Makiko Harunari is a Partner and Head of the Asia Banking and Credit Practice at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Based in Simpson Thacher’s Hong Kong office, Makiko concentrates on complex cross-border financing transactions throughout the Asia-Pacific region, leading a team with multi-lingual capabilities and deep transactional expertise in providing liquidity solutions at all levels of the capital structure. Makiko’s practice includes a broad mix of fund finance, private credit, acquisition finance, back-leverage and other innovative financing products. With deep knowledge of the alternative asset management sector and the fund structure, she regularly advises Simpson Thacher’s prominent financial sponsor clientele on matters in connection with the formation and ongoing operations of their investment vehicles, including subscription and NAV facilities.

A recognized industry leader and named to China Business Law Journal’s “The A-List,” Makiko is recognized by key legal publications including Chambers Asia-Pacific, IFLR1000 and The Legal 500 Asia Pacific. She also currently serves as the Deputy Chair of the Asia Pacific Executive Committee of the Fund Finance Association.

Tom Kirby

Bank of China

Capital Call Facilities in Context

11:30 AM | 2024-03-21

Tom Kirby

Managing Director | Head of Fund Finance | Bank of China

Tom joined Bank of China in Sydney in February 2020 and is a Managing Director heading up their fund finance business.

With more than 20 years’ banking experience with HSBC, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Bank of China, Tom’s background includes delivery of subscription and asset-based financing, transactional banking, risk management and global markets products to many of the world largest fund managers.

Tom has built a market-wide reputation for his strengths in relationship management and deal execution with the world’s largest financial Institutions.

Sally Little

ING Bank N.V.

Welcome and Introduction to FFA University APAC

9:00 AM | 2024-03-20

Sally Little

Head of Financial Institutions Lending APAC | ING Bank N.V.

Sally is a fund finance specialist, who has been a contributor to the industry for more than 17 years. Whilst the majority of her career to date has been spent in London, she has also worked in New York and is now based in Singapore, leading ING’s Financial Institutions Lending business for APAC being responsible for Fund Finance, as well as loans and limits to Banks, Insurers and NBFIs. ING are pioneers in the sustainable finance space, and Sally has initiated a number of sustainable capital call financings both in Europe and APAC. Sally is a member of the FFA’s Executive Committee for APAC.

Soumitro Mukerji

DLA Piper

Devil in the Details: Diligencing Fund Documents

11:15 AM | 2024-03-20

Soumitro Mukerji

Partner | DLA Piper

Soumitro is a multi-specialist banking and finance Partner with extensive experience in the Asian and European financial markets. In his professional career spanning nearly two decades, he has advised financial institutions, funds, corporates and financial advisors across the credit and geographic spectrum. His practice covers sponsor-backed financings, fund financings, structured lending, limited recourse financings and corporate lending.

Soumitro has significant expertise in fund finance transactions and has counselled financiers and fund managers on a wide range of fund financing transactions across all asset classes, including subscription line financings, umbrella facilities, NAVs, hybrids, GP facilities and other forms of liquidity solutions. Since 2019, he has advised on fund finance matters exceeding USD8bn in value.

Danielle Roman

Mourant

Welcome and Introduction to FFA University APAC

9:00 AM | 2024-03-20

Danielle Roman

Partner | Mourant

Danielle is a Partner in Mourant’s Banking and Finance team in Hong Kong, having practiced in Asia for over 15 years. She advises on a broad spectrum of cross-border transactions, including asset finance (with particular expertise in aviation and shipping finance), fund financing, acquisition and leveraged finance, debt restructurings, project finance, FinTech and general corporate lending.

In fund financing, she regularly represents investment and commercial banks on subscription credit facilities. She is also Co-Head of the Asia-Pacific Executive Committee for the Fund Finance Association, and is on the board of directors of Women in Fund Finance Asia. Danielle has been recognised for her work in fund finance through awards such as the Dee Dee Sklar Women in Fund Finance Award 2020.

Prior to joining Mourant in 2012, she worked at Clifford Chance in Hong Kong and Dentons in London.

Shirleen Tan

Walkers Global

Who Does What, and What Goes Where – Deciphering Fund Structures

10:00 AM | 2024-03-20

Shirleen Tan

Partner | Walkers Global

Shirleen is a partner in the Finance and Corporate Group of Walkers' Singapore. Shirleen advises on a broad range of financing transactions, including in relation to leveraged and acquisition finance, fund finance, real estate finance, asset finance, structured finance, project finance and general corporate lending. Shirleen was based in Walkers' Hong Kong office for a number of years before relocating to Singapore. Being fluent in English and Chinese, Shirleen continues to service (amongst others) clients from Hong Kong and the Greater China region in her current role.

Shirleen is recognised as a ‘Leading Individual’ for offshore law firms in Singapore by Asia Pacific Legal 500 2023-2024.

Daniel Toblib

Macquarie Group

Subscription Finance Collateral Package – Last Line of Defence

10:15 AM | 2024-03-21

Daniel Toblib

Head of Fund Finance Origination, APAC | Macquarie Group

Daniel Toblib is the Head of Fund Finance Origination for Asia-Pacific (APAC) at Macquarie Bank. In his role, Daniel partners with private equity, private credit and hedge fund sponsors and investors to provide fund financing solutions.

Daniel has been at Macquarie since February 2016 and covers APAC from the firm’s global headquarters in Sydney.

Notably, Daniel spent over 5 years in New York, where he led Macquarie’s Fund Finance structuring function across North America. Over this time, he built deep expertise in providing bespoke and innovative financing solutions across the fund lifecycle, where the Fund Finance business was recognised on multiple occasions as PDI’s Fund Financier of the Year in the Americas.

Daniel has a Bachelor of Commerce (Distinction) and Bachelor of Economics (Distinction) from the University of New South Wales, Australia.

Patrick Wong

A&O Shearman

Subscription Finance Collateral Package – Last Line of Defence

10:15 AM | 2024-03-21

Patrick Wong

Partner | A&O Shearman

Patrick is a partner based in Allen & Overy’s Hong Kong office. He has experience in a wide range of banking and finance transactions, including fund financings, bilateral and syndicated corporate lending, acquisition financings, equity margin financings, pre-IPO investments and other event-driven financings. Patrick regularly represents banks and non-bank financial institutions in structured cross-border financings in the Asia-Pacific region with a particular focus in Mainland China and Hong Kong. From 2010 to 2014, Patrick was legal counsel at Deutsche Bank partnering with the business to manage risks and produce tangible solutions on a range of debt products offered by the Structured Finance team.

Frank Wu

DBS Bank

Devil in the Details: Diligencing Fund Documents

11:15 AM | 2024-03-20

Frank Wu

Executive Director & Head of Private Markets Funds | DBS Bank

Frank Wu is an Executive Director & Head of the Private Markets Funds segment of DBS Bank. In this role. Frank is responsible for leading the development of relationships with Private Markets Funds at the fund level including PE, VC, Private Credit, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Fund of Funds across the global franchise.

As a founding member of the team, he is instrumental in building up DBS’ fund finance business and has partnered with GPs and investors to provide bespoke fund finance solutions throughout the fund lifecycle. He joined DBS as a Management Associate in 2011 and had previous roles in finance, internal audit and financial institutions group of DBS in Asia. He also served as a Council Member for the Graduate Associate Program of DBS Institutional Banking Group.

Frank is an active member of the fund finance community and serves as a member of the APAC Executive Committee of the Fund Finance Association, where he supports the investment funds market within the APAC.

He holds an MBA from Chicago Booth School of Business and BSc (Hons) in Statistics from National University of Singapore.

FFA University - Asia Pacific

The Fund Finance Association is excited to announce our FFA University program will be held virtually again this year on 20 & 21 March 2024. This version of FFA University is designed for bankers and lawyers transacting under Asia/Pacific law.

Last updated: Jan 29th, 2024

James Abbott

Fi Dinh

Makiko Harunari

Tom Kirby

Sally Little

Soumitro Mukerji

Danielle Roman

Shirleen Tan

Daniel Toblib

Patrick Wong

Frank Wu