Career Biography

Zachary Shim is a highly accomplished legal professional with over 17 years of experience, distinguished by his strategic leadership in navigating complex regulatory landscapes across high-growth e-commerce and FinTech platforms. Qualified in three major common law jurisdictions – Singapore, England & Wales, and Hong Kong – Zachary possesses the unique multi-jurisdictional foundation necessary to manage the legal demands of rapid global expansion and digital innovation. His career trajectory highlights a rare ability to build robust compliance frameworks and legal strategies that directly enable business growth in dynamic, often-regulated markets.

In his current capacity as the Asia-Pacific General Counsel and Global Head of ESG Legal for SHEIN, Zachary holds a pivotal role in shaping the legal strategy and operational compliance for the expansive APAC region. He is responsible for managing legal matters related to corporate transactions, commercial operations and intellectual property across diverse national markets, as well as matters relating to ESG at the group level. This role demands not only technical legal expertise but also a deep understanding of consumer protection, digital retail and global ESG trends, ensuring the company can foster innovation while maintaining regulatory integrity at scale.

Prior to his current position, Zachary served as the Group General Counsel for a high-potential Indonesian FinTech/RegTech startup and as the Global General Counsel for an e-commerce B2B SaaS company. In these roles, his key achievements centred on establishing legal functions from the ground up, implementing scalable governance structures, and successfully securing critical licenses and certifications required for operation in nascent markets. His expertise was crucial in translating ambitious business models into legally compliant operational realities, managing legal affairs through significant capital raising and organisational scaling phases.

Zachary’s core value proposition lies in his ability to act as a true business partner, skilfully integrating legal strategy into commercial decision-making. He is recognised for his problem-solving skills and strategic approach to complex challenges, particularly those involving cross-border compliance, digital governance, and risk mitigation in the technology space. He has a proven track record of proactively engaging with regulatory bodies, developing internal investigation protocols, and building comprehensive training programs to uplift the legal and compliance awareness of entire organisations.

His foundational career was forged in private practice, where he focused on project finance as a lawyer in the Singapore and Hong Kong offices of leading international law firms. This training instilled a rigorous, commercial approach to legal risk management and complex transactional work that continues to inform his in-house leadership.