About

Transamerica Life Bermuda (TLB) is an insurance company specialising in complex high value life insurance products issued to international high net worth individuals. The legal team supporting the business focuses on making sure the company is compliant in its three global jurisdictions in a highly regulated industry, assisting the company in evaluating and assessing the viability of relationships with appropriate business partners to help drive growth. Martin Lister has been general counsel and head of legal and compliance since March 2017, and supervises a team of eight lawyers and seven compliance officers across three operating offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bermuda. Highly experienced, Lister represented Transamerica Group in Hong Kong and Asia as external counsel for over 30 years. The Hong Kong office is the largest office housing just over half of the legal team, including Lister himself. Several team members, such as Cheryl Finney, assistant general counsel for Bermuda, Vicky Yeung, head of compliance for Hong Kong and consultant counsel David Goldstein – who is based in California – have been with TLB for over 10 years. The team operates a relatively flat structure, with most of the individuals reporting directly to the general counsel, and all members of the team are adept at working on most issues. In terms of approach, Lister divides the work amongst the team into certain categories depending on its nature; new, regional or strategic initiatives and developments. These divisions are handled by senior regional legal counsel Ainsley Alexander, and supported by senior legal counsel Lee Sian Chew as well as Finney. Adding to the huge repertoire of the team’s scope, corporate governance, internal audit, reinsurance and IT matters are handled by regional legal counsel Simone McAuliffe, whilst product development, intermediary management and financial support is handled by regional legal counsel Ann Leung. Outsourcing and other contracts, policy interpretation, claims and assignments are handled by Hong Kong regional legal counsel Jennifer Chan, whilst Yeung, Adrian Low (head of compliance for Singapore) and Finney and their compliance teams respond to regulator enquiries, inspections and other initiatives, draft policy and practice and procedure manuals. They also carry out regular anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and anti-corruption monitoring, name screening and sanctions checking as well as regular on-boarding checks and other matters. Finally, Goldstein, former general counsel of TLB’s parent company, Transamerica Life Insurance Company, assists with special projects and provides general support and guidance. Lister has over the last year developed this international team and says that he is ‘very proud of my legal department team which I have built substantially over the last year. For a company of the size of TLB, this is one of the most powerful and comprehensive legal departments covering the full range of legal support and services required by any modern regulated global financial services business… we are a cohesive, collaborative and highly adaptable team’. Lister’s leadership is critical to the emerging strength of this legal team in the high net worth insurance industry.