Susan WONG heads the Financial Services Group which encompasses four practices, namely Asset Management & Funds, Banking & Finance, Capital Markets and Financial Services Regulatory, and is also the Head of the Banking & Finance Practice. She has more than 35 years of experience in banking and finance work and is involved in a wide range of local and international loan and other debt-related transactions including project, acquisition, real estate, investment and business trusts, asset and asset-backed and Islamic financing, syndicated and club loans, cross-border financing, risk and funded sub-participations, securitisations, sale of loans and receivables and security arrangements and documentation.

Susan graduated from the National University of Singapore and was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 1987. She is an editorial board member of the Butterworths Journal of International Banking & Financial Law and a member of the Advisory Panel of the Centre for Banking & Finance Law at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore.

Significant transactions that Susan has been involved in include advising / acting for the following:

  • City Developments Limited (“CDL”) in the financings relating to their three Profit Participation Securities (“PPS”) transactions, the novel PPS structure evolved by CDL to monetise their various cash-generating assets and which involved the divestment of all present and future cashflow arising from their hotel, retail and residential assets (including the W Singapore hotel, Quayside Isle and The Residences at W Sentosa, Central Mall, Tampines Grande and Manulife Centre and Nouvell 18).
  • The syndicate of banks in the financing of more than S$1.33 billion to Sportshub Pte. Ltd. for the development of the Singapore Sports Hub which is understood to be the world's largest Public-Private Partnership ("PPP") sports facilities infrastructure project and one of Singapore's flagship PPP projects. The deal won nine international awards, including the "Asia-Pacific PPP Deal of the Year" and "Global Deal of the Year" handed out by Euromoney's Project Finance Magazine.
  • CapitaLand Limited, Singapore's largest property group, and CapitaMalls Asia Limited ("CMA"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Limited, in the restructuring of CapitaLand Group's intercompany loans in connection with the offering and listing of shares in CMA on the Singapore Exchange. This is the largest initial public offering in Singapore since 1993 and is ranked by Reuters as the 10th-largest IPO globally this year. The deal was awarded "Best Singapore Deal" at the FinanceAsia Awards for Achievement 2009.
  • The landmark S$5 billion syndicated financing for the development of two integrated projects (which include office, residential, hotel and retail components) located at Marina South and Ophir-Rochor, in downtown Singapore which were jointly developed by the state-owned investment companies of Singapore (Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited) and Malaysia (Khazanah Nasional Berhad), pursuant to a historic and politically significant land swap agreement reached between the governments of Singapore and Malaysia.
  • Frasers Centrepoint Limited in the S$3 billion and S$1.8 billion financings in connection with the acquisition of Australian developer Australand Property Group ("Australand"), of which the acquisition of Australand was awarded "Best Singapore Deal" at the FinanceAsia Awards for Achievement 2014.
  • Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. and IBC Capital Limited (the "Offeror"), in the US$1.1 billion financing relating to the S$1.4 billion acquisition by the Offeror of all the issued and paid-up ordinary shares in the capital of Goodpack Limited ("Goodpack"), of which the acquisition of Goodpack was named the "M&A Deal of the Year: Private Equity" at The Asian Lawyer Asia Legal Awards 2015 and is also one of Asian-Mena Counsel’s "Deals of the Year" for 2014. The deal was also named "Asset & Corporate Finance Deal of the Year" at the ALB SE Asia Law Awards 2015 and "Finance Deal of the Year: Acquisition Finance" at The American Lawyer's Global Legal Awards 2015.

Related Practices

  • Banking & Finance
  • Private Equity
  • Chambers Global Practice Guide – Banking & Finance Trends and Developments in Singapore, 2023
  • Chambers Global Practice Guide – Acquisition Finance Trends and Developments in Singapore, 2023
  • Chambers Global Practice Guide – Banking & Finance, Singapore Chapter 2018 - 2020
  • IFLR Cross-Border Financing Report – Singapore Chapter 2013 and 2014
  • Getting the Deal Through – Real Estate, Singapore Chapter 2012 and 2013
Susan has been recognised by Chambers Global since 2002 and Chambers Asia-Pacific since its inaugural edition in 2008, as a leading Banking & Finance lawyer who is "detailed, strategic and comprehensive", "with commanding knowledge of the technical issues" and "a respected authority in the space". Most recently, Susan was accorded the title of “Eminent Practitioner” in Banking & Finance by Chambers Asia-Pacific 2023 , which described her as “an industry leader in banking and finance law”. She was also listed in "Singapore's Top 100 Lawyers, A-List 2023" by Asia Business Law Journal and recognised as an Elite Practitioner by Asialaw Leading Lawyers – The Guide to Asia-Pacific's Leading Lawyers in the field of Banking & Finance. The Legal 500: Asia Pacific describes Susan as being "widely respected", "practical" and a "leader in her field". According to IFLR1000, she has "one of the best minds in her field". Susan was recognised as one of Asia's Top 15 Female Lawyers in Asian Legal Business' 2021 inaugural list of Top 15 Female Lawyers in Asia. Who's Who Legal has also named Susan as a Recommended Lawyer in the Global and National Editions of WWL: Banking 2023.
 
Susan has also been lauded by other legal publications, including asialaw Profiles, Best Lawyers, Expert Guides' Banking, Finance and Transactional Guide, Expert Guides' Guide to the World's Leading Women in Business Law, Expert Guides' Guide to the World's Leading Banking Lawyers, asialaw Leading Lawyers, Who's Who Legal: Global Elite Thought Leaders, Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Banking Lawyers and Who's Who Legal: Singapore.
 
Susan is listed in IFLR1000 Women Leaders since 2019, which recognises individuals at the top of their professions in their jurisdictions, have impressive track records and are consistently recommended by clients and peers for the quality of their advice and service. She has been recommended as a leading lawyer in Singapore in Banking Law since 2008 and Finance Law since 2014 by Best Lawyers and was named by Best Lawyers as "Lawyer of the Year" for Banking Law in 2012 and Finance Law in 2016. She was also named Best Banking and Finance lawyer in Singapore in Expert Guides: Best of the Best 2015, 2017 and 2019. Susan also received the "Best in Banking and Finance" award at the Euromoney Asia Women in Business Law Awards 2014 which celebrate the achievements of the best female lawyers across the region, and World Finance's Legal Awards recognised Susan as the "Best Lawyer in Singapore" in 2012.