Chee Hian Kwah
Chee Hian is a Director in Prolegis LLC and the Head of FSR for the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Prolegis Formal Law Alliance.
Chee Hian specialises in financial service regulations and advises on both contentious and non-contentious matters in the financial services regulatory space.
He advises financial institution clients across a broad range of issues, such as licensing applications, structuring of regulated business, business conduct rules, product offering rules and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing compliance.
He has also assisted financial institutions with internal investigations and regulatory enquiries of senior employee misconduct, breaches of anti-money laundering regulations, and failures to comply with ongoing business conduct requirements.
In particular, Chee Hian has extensive experience advising clients on Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) licence applications, such as licences for capital markets services, financial advisers and major payment institutions (including applications to provide digital payment token services).
Chee Hian also works closely with industry bodies such as Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) and Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) on financial services reform and developments. He has also spent some time on secondment with an international bank in Singapore, and assisted the bank with its regulatory requirement to locally incorporate its Singapore retail operations.
Accolades
- Named as key contact for Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Prolegis under its Band 2 recognition for the "Fintech and financial services regulatory: foreign firms" category for 2025
- Recognised as one of Singapore’s Rising Stars by Asian Legal Business 2025
- Recognised as one of Singapore’s most notable lawyers under 40 by Singapore Business Review 2025
Experience & capabilities
Selected matters
Banks
- Advised an international bank on the licensing requirements in relation to banking business and deposit-taking business in Singapore.
- Advised an international bank on banking secrecy requirements in Singapore.
- Acted for an international bank on a multi-jurisdiction litigation dispute, which had financial regulatory implications in Singapore.
- Acted for an international bank on a multi-jurisdictional investigation into alleged breaches of anti-money laundering and "know your client" requirements.
- Assisted various banks with their customer terms and conditions.
- Advised a Singapore bank on its potential legal liability in relation to different scam and fraud scenarios.
Fund managers
- Acted for an international fund manager in successfully applying for a capital markets services licence for fund management in Singapore.
- Advised an international fund manager on the marketing and offering of its collective investment schemes, and investment management and advisory services into Asia.
- Advised several international fund managers on the setting up of their cross border business arrangements under the relevant MAS exemption frameworks.
- Acted for an international fund manager in its acquisition of a global real estate fund management company.
Securities dealing
- Advised an international brokerage company on marketing and offering rules in Singapore.
- Advised an international brokerage company on ongoing business conduct rules, such as disclosure requirements, risk warning requirements, and product classification requirements.
- Advised and assisted a digital bank with the set up of its online securities and funds trading platform, and its customer terms and conditions.
Insurance companies
- Advised an American annuity and life assurance company on the licensing requirements for insurance business in Singapore.
- Advised an Australian life insurance company on the conduct of certain insurance businesses in Singapore.
Fintech companies
- Advised a Big Tech company on the launch of its payments business in SEA (including Singapore) and the application of new payments regulations to its business lines.
- Advised various fintech companies on the financial licensing requirements in Singapore, and assisted these companies with the structuring of their business plans.
Digital payment token / virtual asset services providers
- Advised one of the biggest global cryptocurrency exchanges on the licensing requirements under the Payment Servies Act 2019 and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022.
- Advised various digital payment token services providers on AML/CFT requirements.
- Advised various digital payment token services providers on the classification of their products (e.g. digital payment tokens, capital markets products).
Others
- Advised a Chinese LNG company on the sanctions risk in relation to certain LNG transactions, as well as its proposed restructuring plans.
- Advised an Indonesia state-owned energy company on the sanctions risk in relation to transactions with certain Russia companies.
- Advised a Singapore-listed company on the sanctions risk in relation to certain transactions in Myanmar.
Sectors
Background
Read more about Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Prolegis here.
Chee Hian graduated with a bachelor's degree in law from the National University of Singapore, where he was awarded the Lo Hwei Yen Memorial Scholarship. He is bilingual in English and Chinese and is admitted to practice law in Singapore.
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