Stephenson Harwood

Finance

Partner

Being a partner of the regulatory team in Hong Kong, with a focus on the financial services sector, Katherine advises clients on a wide range of issues, including compliance with financial services laws and regulations, employment and personal data laws. She is known to be responsive and able to give precise and commercially sound advice.

Her clients include financial services providers (such as banks, brokers, financial advisers, asset managers and Fintech companies) and financial services users (such as borrowers, investors and issuers). She has acted for various financial institutions relating to the establishment of their financial services business in Hong Kong, advised them on their on-going operational and compliance issues and some of their mergers and acquisitions or closures.

In recent years, she has worked with a number of fintech startups and established financial institutions in establishing their online businesses. Her first fintech-related experience started when she assisted a e-wallet company in obtaining a stored value facility licence, and has since moved on to advise a number of traditional and new financial institutions on the development of their websites and mobile apps to facilitate online investment trading or online lending. She has recently worked with a virtual bank on its standard client documentation and two financial services groups to digitalise their financial services.

Katherine regularly speaks at seminars and conferences on financial services regulations, seeks to raise people’s awareness on topical issues and considers how new technological and legal developments can impact the financial services industry. She was one of the top 5 finalists for the “Young Lawyer of the Year” award at the ALB Hong Kong Law Awards in 2019. She was also listed in ALB's "40 under 40" most outstanding lawyers in Asia in 2020 and recognised as "Next Generation Partner (Regulatory)" by Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2021.

English, Mandarin, Cantonese