Lea-Anne is a senior associate in the firm’s financial institutions group in Hong Kong and China. She has significant experience in the UK and greater China on corporate and financial regulatory work for financial institutions. Lea-Anne specialises in financial regulatory matters for investment and retail banks, insurers, asset managers and other financial institutions including advice on financial market regulations, solvency and regulatory capital, portfolio transfers, licensing, outsourcing, intermediary and distribution arrangements, product development, non-contentious insurance and reinsurance matters.

Select experience includes advising major international clients on:

Banks, funds and private equity houses

  • SFC licensing requirements and ongoing supervision
  • Marketing restrictions of securities and investment products
  • Prime brokerage and stock lending arrangements
  • Custodial arrangements

Insurers and reinsurers

  • Licensing requirements and restructuring
  • Bancassurance and distribution arrangements
  • Various collateralised annuities and financial reinsurance transactions in the life sector
  • Investment management arrangements

General regulatory and transactional

  • Disclosure of interests requirements and substantial shareholder regime
  • Insider dealing and market abuse issues
  • Compliance, internal policies and procedures
  • Various takeovers, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and restructuring of financial institutions

Lea-Anne qualified in September 2001 and was admitted to practice in November 2001. She graduated from University College London in 1998 before joining Freshfields in June 2008. Before working at Freshfields, Lea-Anne worked in the London-based financial institutions group of other leading international law firms. Lea-Anne has done various client secondments including six months to a leading fund manager to help them set up a London office real estate fund and to a leading bank to assist in the implementation of a strategic bancassurance arrangement.

She speaks fluent Mandarin, Cantonese and English, in addition to basic French and Japanese.

Contact details

leaanne.lee@freshfields.com

  • Hong Kong office
  • 11th Floor
    Two Exchange Square
    Hong Kong
  • Telephone
  • +852 2846 3323
  • Fax
  • +852 2810 6192