NextGen Event

How Not to Lose Money: Mitigating Risks and Facilitating Fund Financing

Name: How Not to Lose Money: Mitigating Risks and Facilitating Fund Financing
Start: 2023-08-24T12:30:00Z
End: 2023-08-24T13:30:00Z

August 24, 2023

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM HKT

Virtual

Please join the NextGen committee for a virtual panel discussion with industry experts and legal professionals from across APAC as we discuss some of the key risk considerations for fund financing and how these can be mitigated, particularly in the current climate. The discussion will cover themes such as, what commercial risks lenders face, how we can mitigate the risk of fraud, defaulting lenders, defaulting LPs and the importance of due diligence.

Speakers

Paul Aherne

Walkers

Paul Aherne

Partner | Walkers

Paul is a partner in Walkers' Global Finance and Corporate Group. Paul has extensive experience of debt financing transactions in Asia acting for financial institutions, private equity sponsors, investors and corporates. He specialises in advising in relation to the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Bermuda law aspects of fund finance, leveraged and acquisition finance, real estate finance, structured equity finance (including margin loans and equity derivatives), private credit, special situations and general secured and unsecured lending. Paul has over a decade of experience working on fund financing matters in Asia for regional and global lender and sponsor clients. As the market has grown he has been involved in many of the largest and most innovative fund financing transactions.

Paul joined Walkers in 2011 after working in both Hong Kong and Tokyo as a senior associate in the Banking Group of Allen & Overy.

Somdatta Basu

ING

Somdatta Basu

Director, Fund Finance APAC, Financial Institutions | ING

Somdatta is a Director within ING’s APAC Fund Finance team with teams located in NYC, London, Luxembourg and Singapore. The team is part of the ING’s Financial Institutions Group and is responsible for the origination, execution and portfolio management of subscription facilities to funds managed by Financial Sponsors and Alternative Asset Managers across the APAC region.

Somdatta has been with ING for over six years and was previously part of ING’s TMT & Healthcare sector team, offering leveraged buyout, acquisition finance, project finance and corporate lending solutions. Prior to joining ING, Somdatta worked with Siemens Financial Services in their Corporate Lending team across India, US and Singapore. She has fifteen years of experience across Fund Finance, Corporate Lending, Leveraged and Structured Finance covering mid-sized corporate clients and sponsors across Asia and Australia.

Ian Roebuck

Baker & McKenzie Wong & Leow

Ian Roebuck

Local Principal | Baker & McKenzie Wong & Leow

A Local Principal in Baker McKenzie’s Singapore office, Ian has close to 20 years' experience advising banks and financial institutions, debt funds, private equity funds and corporates on a wide range of cross-border financing transactions including acquisition and leveraged finance, fund finance, structured and general lending, and special situations and restructuring transactions. He has advised on transactions in all key jurisdictions in South and South East Asia and the wider Asia Pacific region. Ian also has substantial experience advising on transactions relating to a variety of European jurisdictions and the US.

Ian is ranked as a leading lawyer for Banking and Finance in Chambers Asia Pacific. He has also been recognised as a "Next Generation Partner" for Banking and Finance in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific where he was noted as being "increasingly active in advising banks and funds on fund finance facilities". Ian’s contribution to the industry includes committee membership on the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA) Singapore documentation committee, and the APLMA India committee.

Emma Wang

East West Bank

Emma Wang

General Manager of HK Branch | East West Bank

Emma is Deputy General Manager at East West Bank Hong Kong Branch, overseeing all corporate and commercial banking including fund finance. She is the founder of East West Bank’s Private Equity Group in Asia, specialising in providing customised and creative transactions to PE/VC firms. Previously, Emma is a managing partner at TR Capital Group, leading the firm’s strategies to provide non-dilutive NAV solutions to both GPs and LPs. Emma also worked at Comerica Bank Equity Fund Services Group for 5 years, responsible for developing client relationships in the US. She started her career as a credit analyst at MUFG’s New York office. Emma holds a Master’s in Finance from Brandeis International Business School, and a B.A. from Osaka Prefecture University. Emma is trilingual, speaking Chinese, Japanese and English.

Patrick Wong

A&O Shearman

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

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.