- The strategic hire comes as the Firm strives to respond to clients’ growing interest in virtual assets
- The appointment further demonstrates the Firm’s ongoing commitment to bolster new service delivery offerings for the benefit of clients undergoing digital transformation
Leading virtual assets and investment funds lawyer Joy Lam has joined Baker McKenzie’s Financial Services Practice in Hong Kong, where she will advise clients on virtual asset funds, tokenized offerings, and the development of infrastructure that support the virtual assets ecosystem.
Joy has market leading virtual assets experience and has acted on several ground breaking transactions including advising on Asia’s first open-ended tokenized fund, Asia’s first close-ended tokenized fund and securing the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission’s first approval for a virtual assets fund that permits subscriptions and redemptions to be effected in cryptocurrency. Joy’s significant experience also includes advising on virtual asset funds, non-fund tokenized offerings, and the complex and rapidly evolving regulatory requirements for managing investments in virtual assets and operating secondary exchanges for virtual assets.
Joy is a founding committee member of the Asia Security Token Alliance, active in thought leadership and the publication of whitepapers related to tokenization and also a regular speaker at conferences, including those organized by OSL, Hong Kong’s first regulated crypto exchange and Asia’s largest digital asset trading platform. Joy joins Baker McKenzie from Sidley Austin where she was a partner.
According to Jason Ng, Head of Baker McKenzie’s Financial Services practice in Hong Kong SAR, Mainland China and Singapore, globally there is an accelerating shift toward virtual assets and digital payments. He says, “At a time when financial institutions, sponsors and fintech providers across the globe are working to integrate and expand their digital assets offerings and investments to future-proof their business, having Joy on board will help us better meet our clients’ growing needs. Joy’s track record and experience with blockchain technology, tokens and virtual asset exchanges will no doubt be of significant value to our clients and will further solidify our market-leading position. We are thrilled that Joy is joining us.”
“Joy’s notable experience in virtual asset products complements our financial services regulatory, IP and technology, and funds teams in Hong Kong,” adds Steven Sieker, managing partner of the Firm’s Hong Kong SAR and Mainland China offices. “Her arrival strengthens our ability to offer a compelling proposition of a complete end-to-end solution for financial institutions and virtual assets participants that addresses all transactional and advisory aspects of their business needs. Her joining is further evidence of our ongoing commitment to grow our transactional bench strength in key money centers, including Hong Kong, and bolster our new service delivery offerings for the benefit of our clients as they undergo digital transformation.”
For her part, Joy says: “Baker McKenzie has a leading Financial Services Practice and an enviable global platform that is uniquely positioned to meet the virtual assets legal needs of traditional and emerging financial institutions alike on a holistic, integrated and global basis. Combining my virtual assets practice with the Firm’s full service offering in Hong Kong and globally will deliver unparalleled servicing for clients as the demand for virtual assets legal solutions continues to grow. I am very excited to be joining Baker McKenzie, a firm that recognises the strategic importance of this developing new area, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in Hong Kong and also around the world to assist clients with their virtual assets needs.
Joy’s appointment follows a number of recent significant lateral appointments in keeping with the Firm’s strategy to grow its transactional practice in key global money and business centers, including most recently the onboarding of Capital Markets Partner Victoria Lloyd, Private Equity Partner Derek Poon, leveraged finance Partner Kenneth Ching and media and entertainment lawyer Lex Kuo in Hong Kong; M&A Principal Kay Moon in Singapore; M&A Partner Addy Herg in Kuala Lumpur and Corporate Partner Lance Sacks in Sydney.
