Overview

Experience

Ying Zhou, a key member in the structured finance and derivatives team, is based in the firm’s Shanghai office. She has extensive experience in assisting large international financial institutions in the development of their derivatives business in the Chinese market and assisting Chinese financial institutions with their cross-border transactions. Ying regularly advises on the negotiation and signing of relevant agreements, cross-border structured financing and collateral arrangements for ISDA, GMRA, GMSLA, NAFMII and SAC. She also has extensive experience in document preparation for equity, debt, commodities, futures, indices and other asset-linked structured products and over-the-counter derivatives.

 

In addition to derivatives and structured products business, Ying is highly familiar with issuing transaction and regulatory opinions on financial markets in China. She frequently advises clients on netting, validity of guarantee arrangements and bankruptcy enforceability opinions. Ying is equally experienced in the foreign exchange market, assisting clients in the interbank bond market, the stock exchange market, and the futures market. She is a trustworthy advisor of regulatory matters related to derivatives market reform (including those related to compulsory liquidation, margin requirements, and reporting requirements).

 

Ying has in-depth knowledge of the financial market infrastructure. She has worked closely with a number of domestic and foreign exchanges and clearing houses (such as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Shanghai International Energy Exchange, Shanghai Clearing House, Dalian Commodity Exchange and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, etc.).

Her experience highlights

  • Advised the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on the establishment of OTC Clear, the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Bond Connect 

  • Advised Futures Industry Association on its submission of comments on the draft Futures and Derivatives Law 

  • Advised over ten major securities firms in Hong Kong SAR in relation to their establishment of off-balance sheet repackaging programmes and on-balance sheet structured notes programmes and regularly assist with drawdowns thereunder

  • Advised Shanghai International Energy Exchange, Dalian Commodity Exchange, Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange and China Foreign Exchange Trading System with their ATS licence application in Hong Kong SAR

  • Drafted netting and collateral memorandum under mainland China law for Shanghai Clearing House, OTC Clear and major international banks  

  • Advised major Chinese banks and securities houses on regulatory requirements over OTC derivatives under Hong Kong law, US Dodd-Frank Act and EU EMIR, including clearing, reporting, trading, margining, calculation under de minimis exception of the registration requirement and categorisation 

  • Regularly advises international banks on issues in connection with creation of security over assets located in China, market misconducts under Chinese securities laws and legal issues in connection with market accesses such as (R)QDII, (R)QFII, Bond Connect and Stock Connect

  • Regularly advises international banks and China background financial institutions on their swaps and options linked to different underlyings such as bonds (including Bond Connect bonds, AT1, private placed bonds, perpetual bonds and portfolio of bonds), fund units (including interests in asset management plans onshore), credit, loans and equity (including shares of public companies listed in Hong Kong SAR and Stock Connect shares)

  • Regularly advises international banks and China background financial institutions on their OTC derivatives (e.g., funded collars and variable prepaid forwards) over, and margin loans secured by, shares of public companies listed in Hong Kong SAR, mainland China and New York, including stock borrowing agreements and master netting agreements thereunder

Education

2012 – 2013               LLM, Georgetown University

2008 – 2011               LLM, Tsinghua University

2004 – 2008               LLB, China Youth University of Political Studies (now part of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Languages

Mandarin, English