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Financial Services Practice Group Compliance Services
The Compliance Challenge
Deacons' Compliance Services Practice
Regulatory Compliance Due Diligence
Deacons' Extranet Service |
Financial Services Practice Group Compliance Services
Deacons' Compliance Services practice is part of Deacons' award winning Financial Services Practice
Group, the market leader in Hong Kong in terms of size, depth of client base and range of funds we have
established. Our focus is on clients with interests in investment/asset management, insurance, securities
and futures trading, provident/retirement schemes, private banking services and trusteeship/custody.
The practice group has been ranked first-tier for the past seven years by Asia Pacific Legal 500 (2000/2001 to 2006/2007 editions inclusive). In September 2006, Deacons' Financial Services Practice Group won,
for the third consecutive year, the Asian Legal Business "Hong Kong Investment Funds Law Firm of the
Year".
The Compliance Challenge
As the rapidly changing regulatory landscape in the Asian financial services industry becomes more
complex, so does the risk of non-compliance.
Increased regulatory scrutiny, continuous regulatory developments, differences between global and Asian
markets and the personal liability of senior management for compliance breaches add further levels of
compliance complexity for the responsible management and other stakeholders of regulated entities.
Not knowing your responsibilities or not having appropriate risk management, supervision and internal
controls in place, will never be a valid excuse for non-compliance should the regulators come knocking on
your door.
Penalties for compliance breaches are significant, business reputations can suffer, litigation can be costly,
licences may be revoked and a criminal conviction may be imposed on those who are found to be
responsible.
Deacons' Compliance Services Practice
Deacons' Compliance Services team, headed by Jennifer Davies, currently comprises 7 regulatory
and compliance professionals. Offering both breadth and depth of knowledge and experience in the
provision of regulatory and compliance advisory services to traditional and alternative asset
management companies, the team comprises former regulators, industry participants with a
background in compliance, in-house legal, finance and operations, and former audit professionals.
Jennifer Davies, an Australian qualified lawyer, is Head of Compliance Services at Deacons in Hong
Kong. Jennifer has lived and worked in the Asian region since 1996 and during this time she has
been responsible for the compliance function for asset management businesses in Australia, Hong
Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, PRC, Singapore and Taiwan. Prior to joining Deacons,
Jennifer has held the role of Asia Regional Head of Compliance, Asset Management at both
Deutsche Asset Management and UBS Global Asset Management.
Deacons' Compliance Services is able to work with management on both day-to-day compliance
needs as well as providing practical regulatory and compliance advice on specific projects. We can
also provide hands on support to existing legal and compliance teams.
We provide a full advisory, compliance and regulatory risk management service to traditional and alternative asset managers operating in the Asian region.
Compliance Services provided include:
| (A) |
Special Project Services |
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1. |
General regulatory health check on key areas of business. |
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2. |
Comprehensive regulatory due diligence of regulated activities. |
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3. |
Compliance reviews of target areas, e.g. client take on, marketing documents, sales practices, trading activities. |
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4. |
Acquisition / JV target compliance and regulatory due diligence. |
| (B) |
Routine Matters |
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1. |
Regulatory and compliance advisory services. |
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2. |
Preparation of new corporate and individual SFC licensing applications. |
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3. |
Preparation of new regulated activity SFC licensing applications. |
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4. |
Preparation of new business compliance manuals and policies and procedures to suit Hong
Kong business activities, including: |
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(i) adaptation of "Group" manuals to suit Hong Kong; or
(ii) production of new Hong Kong specific compliance manuals and policies. |
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5. |
Review of existing compliance and operations manuals and policies and procedures. |
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6. |
Regulatory and compliance risk identification and assessment and development of mitigating
internal controls. |
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7. |
Gap analysis of existing policies and procedures to ensure regulatory compliance and industry
best practice. |
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8. |
Preparation of KYC and AML procedures. |
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9. |
Pre-vetting of investment product marketing and advertising materials to ensure suitability for
offer in Hong Kong. |
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10. |
Assessment and preparation of regulatory filings. |
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11. |
Advice and support on corporate governance and internal controls. |
| (C) |
Training (CPT) |
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Deacons is in a position to provide specialist training on a wide range of topics relevant to
compliance and the Securities and Futures Ordinance. We provide regular group training sessions,
and we can provide more tailored, bespoke training sessions on request at a venue of your choice. |
| (D) |
Package Compliance Services |
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1. |
Preparation of quarterly compliance reports for Boards, compliance committees or senior
management. |
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2. |
Establishment of CPT training logs and ongoing reminder services. |
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3. |
Provision of weekly or monthly regulatory updates by email. |
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4. |
Provision of a Compliance Helpline: routine email and phone consultations initiated by the
client, concerning day-to-day compliance issues. |
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5. |
Provision of quarterly monitoring and spot-checking of core compliance areas (including
employee personal trading, marketing and sales practices, trading activities, CPT, and
regulatory compliance). |
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6. |
Conducting post trade monitoring for investment guideline compliance and reporting. |
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7. |
Conducting AML/KYC due diligence on prospects and new clients. |
Regulatory Compliance Due Diligence
Deacons' Financial Services Practice Group will conduct a detailed regulatory compliance due
diligence inspection, or a general regulatory health check, for a set fee. At the end of the on-site
inspection, which can be conducted quickly and with the minimum disruption to the client's day to
day business operations, you will receive a confidential and comprehensive Regulatory Due
Diligence Report, identifying regulatory compliance risk areas and suggested remedial strategies.
Deacons is widely recognised as an innovator in the application of technology to legal services and
provides existing clients who require it, a dedicated, 24x7 online access to a secure extranet facility.
For clients who outsource their compliance management to Deacons' Compliance Services practice,
no matter where you are in the world, you will be able to have real-time access to your organisation's
compliance and regulatory documents, including SFC applications, licensing records, CPT training
logs, Hong Kong specific compliance manuals, policies and procedures.
Email and letter correspondence and financial information are also provided, in a user-friendly format.
Deacons' Extranet Service can also be customised for each client to send clients automatic
reminders about routine regulatory filings and renewals.
Access to the Extranet site is password restricted. Client information is hosted on a secure Deacons
server, housed internally, where access is controlled by end-to-end encryption with the added facility
of access tracking reports.
For details of our Financial Services practice, please click here.
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