Ms Rosabel Ng > WongPartnership LLP > Singapore, Singapore > Lawyer Profile

WongPartnership LLP
12 MARINA BOULEVARD, LEVEL 28
MARINA BAY FINANCIAL CENTRE TOWER 3
SINGAPORE 018982
Singapore

Work Department

Derivatives & Structured Products; Financial Services Regulatory; FinTech; Sustainability & Responsible Business

Position

Rosabel Ng is the Head of the Derivatives & Structured Products Practice and a Partner in the Financial Services Regulatory, FinTech, and Sustainability & Responsible Business Practices.

Career

Prior to joining WongPartnership, Rosabel was an Associate Director in a leading Singapore law corporation and had also practised briefly in London in 2001. She was also seconded to the Legal Department (Treasury) of Citibank N.A., Singapore in 1995.

Rosabel’s main areas of practice are financial markets and services regulatory and advisory (with specific focus on the regulation of derivatives and structured products, as well as regulatory compliance and advisory matters relating to primary financial market infrastructure providers), derivatives transactions, structured finance and other treasury-related work.

Her regulatory experience involves advising and assisting major international players who are primary financial market infrastructures on the Singapore regulatory framework for the regulation of financial markets, including securities, commodities, derivatives markets and exchanges, clearing and settlement houses, as well as advising key market intermediaries on the regulatory regime for foreign exchange, securities, commodities and derivative products (including trade reporting, clearing, margining and collateral management). More recently, she has advised on the regulatory regime for markets and intermediaries for carbon-related products and services.

In the FinTech regulatory space, especially where innovative derivatives-based platforms are involved, Rosabel has been proactive and led the Firm’s FinTech regulatory initiatives by engaging with regulators and FinTech providers to discuss practical regulatory bridges to address emerging technological and business trends which do not fit squarely in the existing financial markets regulatory framework. She has assisted and advised FinTech providers seeking to provide innovative liquidity platforms and solutions on Singapore’s regulatory regime and initiatives, and their applications for regulatory approval.

In the structured products space, she has worked with the issuers, sponsors, arrangers and investors of various listed and unlisted structured notes and products including retail products. She has also advised corporate and individual investors on relevant legal, regulatory and risk-related issues pertaining to derivatives and synthetic investment products.

As regards her structured finance experience, Rosabel has been involved in rated and unrated asset-backed securitisations, and also private structured financing arrangements involving derivatives.

Work Highlights

Significant transactions that Rosabel has been involved in include advising / acting for the following:

  • The arranger and hedge provider in the first Singapore retail offer of structured notes by a corporate issuer, Keppel Structured Notes Pte. Ltd., in 2006, and acting for Société Générale in the first Singapore retail offer of structured notes by a financial institution in 2012 under the revised regulatory regime after the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.
  • A syndicate of lenders and hedging banks, in the preparation, review and negotiation of the terms of their derivatives hedging documentation and security package in connection with the refinancing of a $2.1 billion loan facility extended to one of the largest power generation companies in Singapore.
  • A licensed bank on all legal, regulatory and documentary issues relating to the sale and transfer of its OTC derivatives business portfolio to a prospective buyer.
  • A consortium comprising local and overseas corporations in respect of their application to the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a digital wholesale bank licence to be issued by the Authority.
  • A UK-based FinTech service provider seeking to provide innovative technological liquidity platforms and solutions to facilitate foreign exchange and foreign exchange derivative trades in emerging market currencies in its successful application for regulatory approval under Singapore’s initial FinTech initiatives.
  • Europe’s largest operator of securities and derivatives exchanges and clearing houses in the establishment of its Asian clearing and trading venues in Singapore, and on the regulatory aspects of its proposed merger with another major international financial market infrastructure provider, including merger control approvals, exemptions and clearances.
  • Various participants in Singapore’s climate impact ecosystem on the legal and regulatory considerations for establishing a hub for carbon-related products and services.

Publications & Legal Updates:

  • Law Gazette – Going “Green” the Singapore way 2011
  • Getting The Deal Through – Banking Regulation, Singapore Chapter 2016
  • Butterworths Journal of International Banking & Financial Law – Inside and outside Singapore’s proposed FinTech regulatory sandbox: balancing supervision and innovation 2016
  • Chambers Asia-Pacific – Singapore Country Overview 2017

Languages

English, Mandarin and French. Conversant in basic Japanese.

Memberships

Rosabel is a member of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s (ISDA) Legal & Regulatory Committee and is an ISDA documentation specialist. She has on numerous occasions prepared, reviewed and negotiated derivatives documentation, including term sheets, risk disclosure statements, be-spoke derivative trading agreements and standard master agreements (such as the ISDA Master Agreement), credit support and collateral arrangements, and other similar agreements.

Education

Admitted, 1994, Singapore; 1998, England & Wales; National University of Singapore (LL.B., Hons.); King’s College, University of London (LL.M.).

Lawyer Rankings

Singapore > Capital markets: structured finance, derivatives and securitisation: Local firms

(Hall of Fame)

Rosabel NgWongPartnership LLP

WongPartnership LLP showcases demonstrable expertise in OTC derivatives of all types of asset classes, synthetic products, retail structured products and structured finance transactions, and maintains strong relationships with financial market infrastructure operators and market intermediaries, in addition to fintech solutions providers operating in the derivatives arena. ‘An expert in her field’, Rosabel Ng leads the team and focuses on the regulation of derivatives and structured products, as well as regulatory compliance and advisory mandates relating to primary financial market infrastructure providers. Tian Sion Yoong advises on regulatory issues relating to derivatives transactions, while Melissa Tham has experience in the review, drafting and negotiations of International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) agreements.

Singapore > Fintech and financial services regulatory: local firms

(Leading partners)

Rosabel NgWongPartnership LLP

Highlighted as ‘efficient and very knowledgeable’, the team at WongPartnership LLP is noted for its work on cutting-edge projects like blockchain-based stablecoins, digital banking platforms, and telemedicine. The practice is also highly regarded for its expertise in navigating payment services license applications for digital asset service providers. Elaine Chan and Joy Tan jointly lead the FSR practice at the firm, and are noted for their extensive regulatory experience advising a broad spectrum of financial institutions on a host of matters. Rosabel Ng is noted for her specific focus on the regulation of derivatives and structured products, as well as regulatory compliance and advisory matters relating to primary financial market infrastructure providers, while Lam Chung Nian earns praise for his ‘very practical and sound advice to clients with a sensible analysis of the legal framework’. Other notable individuals include: Sin Wei Ong, who stands out for his corporate finance expertise; Kyle Lee, who specialises in venture capital and start-up matters; Tian Sion Yoong lauded for his ‘best in class working knowledge with leading global financial institutions’; Kylie Peh, noted for her work on both contentious and non-contentious matters; and Chan Jia Hui.