Overview
Chong is widely acknowledged as a leading practitioner in sophisticated derivatives and capital market products and heads the firm’s derivatives and structured products practice in Asia.
Chong has in-depth knowledge of, and experience in, the full range of over-the-counter derivatives, including FX, rates, equity and fixed income, as well as primary market issuances across Asia. He has acted as counsel to ISDA in the Asia Pacific since 1997 and has been closely involved in the development of derivatives and capital market products in China since 1995.
Chong has worked closely with Chinese financial services companies and the regulators on a number of structural developments in China, including derivatives regulations and enforceability of close-out netting and collateral arrangements, and on National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) and Securities Association of China (SAC) documentation. He also advised on bankruptcy law reform in China.
Work highlights
Chong has played a significant role in the development of the derivatives and structured product market in Hong Kong and China. His innovative work includes advising:
- Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Market (HKEx) on the China Connect legal concepts and framework, including the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect (November 2014) and the extension to the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect (November 2016)
- Bond Connect Company and HKEx on the Bond Connect programme (July 2017), a milestone in mutual market access between Mainland China and the world
- Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) on the establishment of its international trading platform
- a number of international banks on structured equity and innovative collar financing transactions
- a number of international banks, offshore affiliates of Chinese banks and securities houses on the establishment of their structured notes, certificates of deposit and commercial paper programmes, as well as on their subsequent issuances
- major international banks and Chinese banks and securities houses in setting up offshore repackaging programmes and issuing repackaged notes with complex new structures such as loan repackaging
Professional experience
Chong is an adjunct professor at the University of Hong Kong.
Chong writes regularly and publishes extensively on a number of subjects relating to derivatives and structured products. His external publications include:
Books
- Hong Kong Derivatives - Law and Practice, Lexis-Nexis, 2010, with I-Ping Soong
- Linklaters’ Guide to China-Hong Kong Stock Connect, with a supplement on Bond Connect, Linklaters, November 2017
- Chapter 8 (China), Set-Off Law and Practice - An International Handbook, Oxford University Press, 2018
Articles
- “Stock Connect - The Beneficial Ownership Conundrum”, Finance Asia, March 2015
- “China - The New Netting Jurisdiction”, Global Capital, February 2014
Education and qualifications
Chong studied law at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and holds a bachelor of civil law (a master’s equivalent) from Worcester College, University of Oxford.
He speaks fluent English, Bahasa Malay and Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese, Fujianese and Hakka).
