Benjamin Liew

Practice Areas

Benjamin Liew is a Partner with the firm’s Financial Institutions and Sustainability practice groups. He advises a diverse range of financial institutions in Singapore and in other major financial centres across the globe.

Career

Benjamin has been recognised as a Next Generation Partner for Capital Markets: Structured Finance, Derivatives and Securitisation (2022-2023) and Financial Services Regulatory (2024) by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific. He has also been named one of Singapore’s 18 Most Influential Lawyers under 40 in 2021 by Singapore Business Review. He was also named an Up-and-Coming Lawyer for Capital Markets: Securitisation & Derivatives by Chambers Asia Pacific in 2024.

Benjamin was seconded to a Singapore bank under a specialist secondment programme in 2019, jointly organised by the Ministry of Law and the Economic Development Board. He was also seconded to a leading international law firm in London in 2016 and an international payment services firm in 2021.

Benjamin commenced his legal career as a transactional lawyer. He is now a recognised financial services regulatory specialist His clients include private banks, wealth managers, fund management companies, fintech and derivatives dealers. He has represented clients on a broad range of licensing, business conduct compliance requirements, enforcement matters, and has also worked on various M&A transactions involving the financial services sector. His practice has a deep focus on OTC derivatives and ISDA documentation.

Benjamin is also a Partner with our Sustainability practice group. He has advised on regulatory guidelines for environmental risk management and has been involved in renewable energy projects, green finance and sustainability linked-derivatives transactions.

Awards

Work Highlights

- Assisted and advised various leading securities and futures broking firms, fund managers and investment advisory firms from jurisdictions including the United States, Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and India on licensing requirements and applicability of licensing exemptions; and acted for these clients in securing their capital markets services licenses issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, covering a broad range of regulated activities under the Securities and Futures Act including dealing in capital markets products, advising on corporate finance and fund management.

- Advised Keppel and its consortium partners Mitsubishi Power Asia Pacific and Jurong Engineering on the derivatives hedging transactions in respect of the Keppel Sakra Cogen Plant, Singapore’s first hydrogen ready 600MW state-of-the-art, advanced combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant.

- Advised a major Japanese credit card and payment system company on its licensing requirements under the Payment Services Act.

- Advised a S-REIT in respect of its sustainability linked derivative transaction with a global bank in Singapore.

- Advised M&G Real Estate in respect of its finance linked-derivatives hedging documentation in connection with its purchase and leaseback transaction of a portfolio of properties from Cycle & Carriage.

- Advised a Chinese headquartered e-commerce group on its digital bank licence application in 2019 and 2020, a new banking framework announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2019.

- Advised a digital asset infrastructure and custodial service provider on licensing requirements under the Payment Services Act and the implementation of its Singapore business

- Advised a FinTech startup on its virtual stored value and payment system service, proposed to be set up in Singapore and other jurisdictions in Southeast Asia, on the licensing and regulatory requirements under the Money-Changing and Remittance Businesses Act, Payment Systems (Oversight) Act and the Banking Act.

- Advised buy side clients with the negotiation of the ISDA Master Agreement in respect of their OTC derivatives transactions.

- Assisted a Canadian portfolio manager in the regulatory due diligence on various licensed and registered insurance brokers in Singapore in connection with its proposed investment in a leading international insurance group.

- Advised both Singapore and overseas financial institutions (including banks, capital markets services licence holders, financial advisers, fund managers and insurers) on Singapore financial services regulatory matters including substantial shareholding disclosure requirements, mandatory OTC derivatives reporting under the Securities and Futures Act, remuneration issues, outsourcing arrangements, conduct of business requirements, anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism obligations, margin requirements and client monies rules.

- Assisted financial institutions with the drafting and development documentation, ranging from standard customer terms of business; bespoke structured product documentation; to outsourcing and services agreements.

- Advised one of the largest banks in the Middle East in its multi-jurisdictional transaction and investment in an international wealth management and investment advisory group operating in London and Singapore. Regulatory approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore for the proposed investment and change in control was required to be obtained.

- Advised and acted for one of the largest palm oil businesses globally, headquartered in Singapore, in its competitive bid process for a private acquisition of an Indonesian palm oil business.

- Advised on the largest listed Asian bank with a legal and regulatory review of its global private banking business, including reviewing, and making recommendations to its business model and legal documentation including customer agreements, internal service agreements and other documentation including internal compliance policies, international control and business process policies. The special review was subject to the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

- Advised a Swiss-headquartered private bank on the potential regulatory and licensing risks under their cross-border private banking business model.

- Assisted an international multinational life insurance company headquartered in London in their proposed bancassurance tie-up with one of Asian’s leading banks headquartered in Singapore.

- Advised and acted for numerous global commodity traders overseas and in Singapore on licensing requirements under the Commodity Trading Act regulated by International Enterprise Singapore, including the transfer of the regulatory and licensing framework for OTC commodity derivatives from the Commodity Trading Act to the Securities and Futures Act.