He joins from Sidley Austin where he was co-leader of its Asia investment funds practice covering the Asia-Pacific region (including Japan) based in Singapore.
With over two decades experience, Han Ming’s practice is focused on the structuring and formation of a broad range of investment funds, including hedge funds, private equity funds, and real estate funds. He also provides strategic advice to fund managers on the establishment of business operations in Singapore, together with the formation, structuring, and registration of investment funds in Singapore and numerous other jurisdictions across Asia-Pacific and various offshore fund domiciles.
In addition, Han Ming has significant regulatory experience including advising on compliance and licensing issues relating to securities and financial advisory law as well as regularly engaging with regulators in Singapore.
He also counsels clients within the virtual assets ecosystem in Singapore, advising on the structuring and offering of tokenised funds and non-fund tokenised offerings as well as supporting on the complex and rapidly evolving regulatory requirements for managing investments in, and operating secondary exchanges for, virtual assets.
Due to his diverse practice across the full scope of investment funds, Han Ming’s client’s include a wide range of leading fund sponsors and managers as well as investment banks, financial institutions, family offices, venture capitalists, institutional investors and other organisations across various sectors.
Praj Samant, Reed Smith’s Asia-Pacific managing partner, said: “We are truly delighted to welcome Han Ming. He is the standout name in the Asia funds market who will enhance our existing offering and provide excellent connectivity with our US, UK and European teams. It’s testament to the firm’s continued strategic success in Asia that we can attract talent of Han Ming’s stature.”
Denise Jong, co-chair of Reed Smith’s Global Corporate Group, added: “Han Ming is a world class lawyer with a huge reputation. He is a real heavy weight in the funds space and will add serious firepower to the wider corporate team both in Asia and globally. His arrival will prove a huge asset to our clients.”
Calvin Chan, Reed Smith’s Singapore office managing partner, said: “We are very pleased to have Han Ming on board. His arrival will bolster the depth of talent that we have in the office.”
Han Ming commented: “With an impressive global footprint, Reed Smith is a firm renowned for its collaborative culture and innovative approach towards addressing and fully supporting clients’ needs. In recent years, it has made significant investments in enhancing its global funds expertise whilst broadening its depth in Asia. I am delighted to be joining the firm on this exciting trajectory and look forward to working with my new colleagues in leading the expansion and growth of the funds practice in Asia-Pacific. This will no doubt best support our clients and their growing need for key support in the region and globally.”
Han Ming has been recognised as a Band 1 leading individual in the Investment Funds practice in Chambers Asia-Pacific, Singapore chapter, for 15 consecutive years. He has also been acknowledged as a leading lawyer in a number of other legal publications including “Best Lawyers” for Investment Funds and Mutual Funds practice in Singapore as well as Legal 500 Asia Pacific and Who’s Who Legal: Private Funds, which described Han Ming as a “world-class name” who is “widely regarded as the voice of alternative funds in Singapore.” The Best Lawyers in Singapore named him as “Lawyer of the Year” in the Mutual & Private Funds category of their 2022 edition.
With Han Ming’s arrival, Reed Smith now has 140 lawyers, including nearly 50 partners, across its four offices in Asia: Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong.