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Financial Services Practice Group Compliance Services
Deacons' Compliance Services team is part of Deacons' award winning Financial Services Practice Group, the market leader in Hong Kong in terms of size, depth of client base and range of funds we have established. Our focus is on clients in the business of investment / asset management and our client base includes traditional asset managers, hedge funds and private equity groups, insurance companies, securities and futures traders, fund distributors, placing agents, MPF / retirement schemes, private banks and administrators, trustees and custodians.
The practice group has been recognised as a market leader by Asia Pacific Legal 500 since 2000. This publication described the practice group in the following terms: "Its long-term commitment to this (fund) industry has earned it an impressive client portfolio, attracted by its experience of licensing and regulatory compliance in particular." Deacons is ranked by Chambers Asia as a leading law firm in the areas of Fund Management in Hong Kong and Investment Funds in Asia (2008 edition); and a leading law firm in Hedge Funds and Registered Funds in Asia and Hong Kong (2009 edition).
The Compliance Challenge
As the rapidly changing regulatory landscape in each of the various financial services markets across Asia becomes more complex, ensuring compliance becomes a greater challenge.
Increased regulatory scrutiny, continuous regulatory developments, differences between global and Asian markets and the personal liability of senior management for compliance breaches add further levels of compliance complexity for management and the other stakeholders of regulated entities.
Not knowing your responsibilities or not having appropriate risk management, supervision and internal controls in place, will never be a valid excuse for non-compliance should the regulators come knocking on your door.
Penalties for compliance breaches are significant, business reputations can suffer, litigation can be costly, licences may be revoked and a criminal conviction may be imposed on those who are found to be responsible.
Deacons' Compliance Services
Deacons' Compliance Services team currently comprises 8 regulatory and compliance professionals, offering both breadth and depth of knowledge and experience in the provision of regulatory and compliance advisory services to traditional and alternative asset management companies. The team comprises former regulators, industry participants with a background in compliance, in-house legal and former audit professionals.
Jane McBride, a lawyer qualified in Hong Kong; England and Wales; and Australia, is Head of Compliance Services at Deacons. Jane has lived and worked in Asia since 1991 and during this time she spent 8 years working for financial institutions in Hong Kong and in Tokyo, in senior regional roles with legal as well as compliance responsibilities. The rest of her career was spent in private practice. She is also fluent in Japanese.
Deacons' Compliance Services works closely with our clients' management teams on their day-to-day compliance needs and also provides practical regulatory and compliance advice on our clients' specific projects. We also provide hands on support to our clients' legal, compliance and internal audit teams.
We can also assist in the provision of a full advisory, compliance and regulatory risk management service to traditional and alternative asset managers operating throughout the Asian region.
Our Compliance Services include:
Compliance Due Diligence
- regulatory compliance due diligence reviews
- "health checks" on specific target areas (client take on process, marketing documents, sales practices, staff dealing activities)
- acquisition / JV target compliance regulatory due diligence reviews
We conduct detailed due diligence reviews or general regulatory health checks on-site at clients’ premises. The client receives a written report from us, identifying regulatory compliance risk areas and suggesting remedial strategies.
SFC Licensing
- preliminary / viability assessments and advice
- new corporate and individual SFC licence applications
- additional SFC licence applications (additional regulated activity, new substantial shareholder approvals)
- notifications to and ongoing regulatory filings with the SFC
Compliance Operations Advice / Support
- regulatory and compliance aspects of operational matters
- corporate governance and internal controls
- preparation / reveiw of compliance manuals, policies and procedures including adapting existing group documentation to the Hong Kong compliance environment
- preparation of KYC, AML, record keeping and staff dealing procedures
- assistance in setting up compliance monitoring systems
Gap Analysis and Follow-up
- gap analysis of client policies and procedures against actual practices
- review of existing compliance / operations manuals, policies and procedures to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry best practice
- regulatory and compliance risk identification, assessment and development of mitigating internal controls
- assistance with implementation of audit/review recommendations
Marketing Materials
- review of investment product / services marketing and advertising materials to ensure suitability for use in Hong Kong
Training
- specialist training on a wide range of legal, regulatory and compliance topics including the requirements of the SFO
- CPT training
Retainer Compliance Services
We can also offer certain compliance services on a monthly retainer basis. Our retainers are designed for smaller clients which do not have significant compliance resources in Hong Kong.
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List of Services 
