The team at Clifford Chance advises on the full spectrum of financial transactions and products. Its workload includes assisting with asset, Islamic, project and structured finance matters, corporate and investment grade lending, derivatives, restructuring and insolvency, and trade cases. Lena Ng has experience advising on financial services and market products, including banking and payment services, securities, futures, derivatives and funds, and is particularly active in the fintech space. Kabir Singh handles complex cross border disputes, particularly those originating out of Southeast Asia and India. Nish Shetty also harnesses extensive experience handling related disputes and investigations. The three helm the team alongside the ‘excellent’ Janice Goh.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Profile
Position
Lena Ng leads the financial regulatory practice in our Singapore office and advises on financial regulatory issues relating to financial services and market products, including banking services, securities, futures, derivatives, funds and payment services.
Lena advises banks, financial institutions, corporates (including commodities houses), funds and payment service providers on licensing requirements, exemptions, conduct of business and other regulatory requirements. In addition, she advises on custody, collateral, netting and clearing issues, as well as cash and credit risk management.
Lena's practice extends to advising on bank secrecy, confidentiality and data privacy. She also advises on fintech, cryptocurrency and blockchain related matters.
Career
Admitted as solicitor in Singapore 1997
Admitted as solicitor in England & Wales 2000
Joined Clifford Chance London 2001
Clifford Chance Hong Kong 2004
Admitted as solicitor in Hong Kong 2007
Clifford Chance Singapore 2009
Partner since 2017
Education
University College London (LLM) 2001
Content supplied by Clifford Chance
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Clifford Chance Singapore’s financial regulatory team, led by Lena Ng, stands out for its rare combination of deep subject matter expertise and an unwavering willingness to go the extra mile for clients. They are adept at navigating regulatory grey areas — not just citing the law, but providing well-reasoned interpretations backed by market practice, regulatory insight, and commercial context.'
- 'Potential clients would value the team’s ability to distil highly technical rules into clear, actionable guidance that decision-makers can confidently implement. Their collaborative style means they work as true partners with in-house teams, anticipating issues before they arise and providing solutions that are both technically robust and operationally feasible.'
- 'Compared to other firms, Lena Ng's team offers a distinctive blend of regulatory depth, commercial pragmatism, and strategic foresight.’
- 'Lena Ng for her exceptional clarity of advice. She has a great ability to distil complex and often ambiguous regulatory issues into concise, commercially relevant guidance that enables decisive action. Her insights reflect not only deep subject matter expertise but also a strong grasp of regulator expectations and market realities, making her advice both technically sound and strategically valuable.'
‘Clifford Chance is one of the key players in the financial regulatory space in Singapore. They have one of the deepest benches, they know the market and the regulators. ’
‘Lena Ng is a star performer in the financial regulatory space. Janice Goh is another excellent partner. ’
‘They have expert domain knowledge and their quality of advice is top-notch - comprehensive, thoughtful, and clear. ’
‘The team is very professional, strategic and on top of their game. They give solid regulatory advice, which has a very practical tone to it, and is easy to understand.’
'Strong team of experienced lawyers who have excellent domestic and cross border outlook and the ability to simplify complex matter.'
'Lena Ng, excellent lawyer who is completely solution orientated and can simplify complex matters. Yaru Chia, super accessible and helpful and has very strong regulatory background, pleasure to work with.'
Key clients
- Aon Securities
- CME Group Inc
- Partior
Work highlights
Assisted the client who believed that they were in breach of regulations in Singapore because several of their ETFs that were listed on exchanges in Europe that were intended to be registered for sale to sophisticated investors in Singapore were not so registered.
Acted for CME on all regulatory matters in relation to its APAC business for many years.
Providing local banks with various opinions in respect of direct and indirect clearing of derivatives trades on foreign clearing houses for the purpose of their obtaining favourable regulatory capital treatment under MAS Notice 637 Risk Based Capital Adequacy Requirements for Banks Incorporated in Singapore.