Tracy Wong is a Partner in the Corporate Practice Group in Christopher & Lee Ong. She focuses on M&A, corporate governance, regulatory and trade, financial regulatory/ FinTech, technology and telecommunications.
Tracy continues to climb the ranks in the Malaysian legal arena with her commercial understanding of the market landscape and the industry. Clients of the Firm describes her as having “Strong technical knowledge and an effective problem solver” and “provides sound advice that is both practical and commercial”.
She advises on corporate transactions, specifically in relation to mergers & acquisition with a speciality in private equity transactions. She is also involved in general corporate and commercial transactions where she advises corporations on various matters ranging from the incorporation of a company to the regulatory aspects involved in the operations of a company.
Tracy spearheads the financial regulatory services and FinTech practice of Christopher & Lee Ong, focusing especially in E-commerce & Payment Services, crowdfunding and peer-to-peer financing, blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Her expertise in this space extends to assisting both local and international companies on the legal and compliance issues, including applicable licensing and regulatory compliance, policies, by-laws and legal requirements in Malaysia in various regulated and unregulated industries.
In the Regulatory and Trade area, Tracy regularly advises multi-national entities and foreign law firms on the regulatory requirements covering sanctions, WTOs, export controls, anti-dumping and safeguards, free trade agreements, Rules of Origin, amongst others.
Tracy is listed as Who’s Who Legal’s Recommended National Leader for Southeast Asia Trade & Customs 2022.
EXPERIENCE
Financial Regulatory
- Advising a digital wallet subsidiary of an American social media conglomerate on regulatory and licensing requirements in its efforts to set up a digital asset exchange. We advised on regulatory requirements relating to compliance, staffing, governance, data protection, and other operational, regulatory requirements, preparation of application bundles, and are also involved with correspondence with local regulators.
- Advising an on-demand food delivery marketplace provider on with regards to the regulatory requirements on fintech and payment services as it seeks to develop a new payment service in the form of an e-wallet business model.
- Advised various entities on the licensing requirements in Malaysia, especially in relation to e-money, merchant acquiring services and remittance businesses.
- Advised a subsidiary of a Chinese gaming company on its application for an e-money licence in Malaysia.
- Advised a Malaysian bank on its proposed collaboration with a mobile platform in the money remittance business.
- Advising a leading global payments solutions provider on the introduction of an instalment enablement program in Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The advice included key legal considerations of the instalment enablement program from the perspective of Malaysian laws, including under the Financial Services Act, Central Bank guidelines, and Competition Act 2010 and its related guidelines.
- Advised an American multinational financial services corporation on their acquisition of Southeast Asia’s largest e-hailing phone app’s payment entity as a merchant for transactions carried out by the local entities in Malaysia.
- Advised a global payments system operator and its subsidiaries on its business models which would involve working with merchants and other financial institutions within the intermediary chain on buy-now-pay-later models under Malaysian law.
- Advised an American multinational financial services corporation on its carbon credit resale programme, involving financial institution clients under Malaysian law.
- Advising a digital wallet subsidiary of an American social media conglomerate on regulatory and licensing requirements in its efforts to set up a digital asset exchange. We advised on regulatory requirements relating to compliance, staffing, governance, data protection, and other operational, regulatory requirements, preparation of application bundles, and are also involved with correspondence with local regulators.
- Advising an on-demand food delivery marketplace provider on with regards to the regulatory requirements on fintech and payment services as it seeks to develop a new payment service in the form of an e-wallet business model.
- Advised various entities on the licensing requirements in Malaysia, especially in relation to e-money, merchant acquiring services and remittance businesses.
- Advised a subsidiary of a Chinese gaming company on its application for an e-money licence in Malaysia.
- Advised a Malaysian bank on its proposed collaboration with a mobile platform in the money remittance business.
- Advising a leading global payments solutions provider on the introduction of an instalment enablement program in Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The advice included key legal considerations of the instalment enablement program from the perspective of Malaysian laws, including under the Financial Services Act, Central Bank guidelines, and Competition Act 2010 and its related guidelines.
- Advised an American multinational financial services corporation on their acquisition of Southeast Asia’s largest e-hailing phone app’s payment entity as a merchant for transactions carried out by the local entities in Malaysia.
- Advised a global payments system operator and its subsidiaries on its business models which would involve working with merchants and other financial institutions within the intermediary chain on buy-now-pay-later models under Malaysian law.
- Advised an American multinational financial services corporation on its carbon credit resale programme, involving financial institution clients under Malaysian law.
- Advised a multinational financial institution on its business model involving a its group of companies providing institutional execution services to its clients for the purpose of transactions to counterparties within the jurisdiction under Malaysian law.
- Advised a global content, commerce and enterprise platform on its merchant and payment facilitation agreements in contemplation of its e-commerce operations launch in Malaysia.
- Advised a Malaysian digital bank on its debit card issuance programme in support of its applications with payment system operators.
- Advised a Korean-based platform service provider and its payments-focussed subsidiary on its business model and regulatory obligations facilitating the collection of funds on behalf of a US-based marketplace platform.
- Advised a global peer-to-peer payments technology company managing on its crypto-specific multi computational wallets under Malaysian law.
- Advising a global e-commerce platform on factoring and assignment of receivables under Malaysian law.
Mergers & Acquisitions
- Advised a private equity fund on its acquisition of a minority stake in a fixed price retail concept store in Malaysia that has more than 200 stores in Malaysia. The transaction was valued at almost MYR 2 billion and involved the implementation of a complex internal restructuring exercise of the Target Company prior to completion of the deal.
- Advised a Malaysian pharmaceutical and healthcare chain on its acquisition of 100% of the shares in a private Malaysian pharmaceutical company via a competitive bid process. Due to it being a competitive bid process, the transaction was completed under intense time pressures, which also required a specialised transaction structure to accommodate the tight timelines.
- Advised a private equity fund on its acquisition of a minority stake of a Malaysian dollar-store concept retail outlet.
- Advised a private equity fund on its acquisition of a minority stake in a Malaysia’s largest retail hardware store and all subsequent follow-on transactions involving the same entity within the ASEAN region.
- Acted as the lead counsel for Double-V Series Sdn Bhd (privately owned vehicle of the founders of Munchy’s) and TAP Crunch Sdn Bhd (joint-venture entity between a private equity fund Tremendous Asia Partners and the Malaysian government pension fund) in the sale of the entire share capital of Munchy Food Industries Sdn Bhd, which is one of Malaysia’s largest snack manufacturers with operations in Malaysia, Indonesia and China, and supply chain to 50 countries worldwide.
- Successfully acted for one of Southeast Asia’s biggest private equity firms in its acquisition of a majority stake in one of the largest and fastest growing premium supermarket chains in East Malaysia. This acquisition is crucial in expanding the private equity firm’s presence in the premium supermarket segment to East Malaysia.
- Advised a private equity fund in its subscription of shares in a Malaysian public listed company in the manufacturing of drinking water sector.
- Advised a private equity fund on the acquisition of a group of fine dining Chinese restaurants in Malaysia.
- Acted for the private equity arm of a leading Singaporean investment firm on their acquisition of an indirect stake in an integrated producer, distributor and brand owner of milk and yogurt products, as well as its 3 Malaysian subsidiaries and 2 Australian subsidiaries (“Group”). This indirect acquisition involved a complex structure, including the purchase of secondary shares in one of the shareholders in the Group and the subscription of irredeemable convertible preference shares in two of the shareholders in the Group.
- Advised a private equity fund on its proposed disposal of an electrical construction company.
- Advised the owners of a digital advertising company on the sale of a majority stake in the company to a Japanese advertising company.
- Advised a foreign entity (based in an Asean country) on the prospect of a setup of a local Malaysian entity as part of its commercial plans to expand its wholesale trading business operations.
- Advised a private equity firm on the proposed acquisition of an equity stake in a company which focused on the pet food manufacturing and distribution, logistics and warehousing business, together with its 7 Malaysian subsidiaries and 2 international subsidiaries.
- Acted for a leading retail chain in Malaysia in their proposed acquisition of a minority shareholding in local company involved in the manufacturing of various plastic products.
- Advising one of largest retail pharmacy chains in Malaysia with 180 stores locally on its proposed acquisition of a majority stake in the post-restructuring group of companies. This proposed acquisition will enable them to leverage on the pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities, further strengthening its commitment to making healthcare more affordable.
- Advised a private equity fund on its participation in the Series B funding round of one of the fastest-growing distributors in Malaysia with a Business to Business (B2B) wholesale platform serving over 3,000 SME’s and corporations in Malaysia.
- Assisted a private equity fund with its investment in a Switzerland-based holding company operating the first hard discounter in Southeast Asia.
- Advised a Malaysian-based private equity firm focused on growth capital investments in South and Southeast Asia, on multiple acquisitions for their food and beverage portfolio.
- Assisted several pharmaceutical and healthcare companies on both buy-side and sell-side mandates involving retail pharmacy chains and pharmaceutical manufacturing group of companies.
- Assisted with a Japanese conglomerate with its acquisition of a Singapore-based healthcare group with operations in Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.
- Advised BIG Pharmacy on its acquisition of Caring Pharmacy resulting in a merger of Malaysia’s two largest retail pharmacy chains to create a group with more than 400 pharmacy outlets in Malaysia.
- Advised an international distributor and formulator of chemicals and ingredients in its acquisition of a Malaysian chemical distributor.
Regulatory & Trade
- Assisted a Japanese headquartered manufacturing company in Malaysia on its appeal to and negotiations with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry on the classification of a product as a strategic item and assisted with the drafting of the internal compliance program of the company.
- Advised an international oil & gas company on the export licensing requirements for the oil & gas industry.
- Advised a global technology company on the legal restrictions in relation to the use of a licensed facility in Malaysia from a customs and strategic goods perspective which enabled to strategically plan its product flow and supply chain management.
- Advised a global agrifood business on the drafting of the standard of terms and conditions of sale for crude palm oil and addressed sanctions issues such as dealing with restricted countries and movement of goods to restricted countries.
- Assisted one of the largest plumbing distributors in conducting a verification exercise on Malaysian non-preferential certificates of origin and whether certain products that have been exported from Malaysia to the U.S. are in fact of Malaysian origin as the country of origin would affect anti-dumping laws in U.S.
- Advised various companies on the import and export licensing requirements for the food & beverage industry.
- Advised an international chemicals company on the import licensing requirements of certain chemicals products.
- Advised a multi-national commodities trader on its proposed expansion of commodities trading business to Malaysia.
- Advised a Singapore subsidiary of a US-based company which focused on the Technology & Radioisotope Manufacturing on its market entry and regulatory implications of undertaking proposed business of radioactive related products in Malaysia.
- Reviewed the import compliance manual of an e-commerce platform provider and to localise the document in accordance with Malaysian law.
- Advised an American multinational investment bank to provide high-level financial regulatory and trade regulatory advice with regards to the movement of funds to and from Israel from a Malaysia law perspective.
- Advised a well-known family-owned Scottish company that produces and distributes premium spirits across the globe to update its internal marketing guidelines for their Southeast Asia market.
- Advised an e-commerce platform specialising in women’s attire and accessories on the temporary imports of cosmetic products from a Malaysian law perspective.
- Advised a British multinational research-based pharmaceutical company on the Malaysian regulatory advice with regards to the transfer and withdrawal of certain products from the Malaysian market.
- Advised a British multinational alcoholic beverage company on the use of QR codes as labels on its products from a Malaysian law perspective.
- Advised one of the worlds leading manufacturers in the methacrylate business on the trade regulatory requirements related to the sale of MMA (methyl methacrylate) products in Malaysia produced by its related company.
- Advised a foreign retail platform operator on the regulatory requirements of the import and retail sales of precious metals and precious stones in Malaysia.
- Advised a leading cloud computing platform company on customs valuation methodologies and regulations in Malaysia.
- Advised a leading global information technology company on international trade regimes for the import of virtual reality devices and accessories into Malaysia.
- Advised a prominent player in the power tools and equipment industry on origin requirements based on the relevant free trade agreements and compliance with trade norms and preferential treatment.
- Assisted a prominent global agribusiness with import licence and permit applications and provided regulatory advice on the import requirements for the trade and distribution of animal feed in Malaysia.
- Assisted an e-commerce retail platform to craft a highly personalized import compliance manual to provide address key issues on valuation methods, FTAs, rules of origins and regulatory enforcement trends.
- Assisted a well-known e-commerce platform with a comprehensive review and provided tailored advice on the legal position and practical steps for approval of the products intended to be imported for an urgent marketing event.
- Advised a global manufacturing company with regulatory advice on customs laws and regulations on potential breach conditions and provided a comprehensive risk assessment based on its operational forms, data entries and records.
- Advised a major global e-commerce platform headquartered in the U.S. on setting up a platform in Malaysia which includes providing comprehensive advice on distributive trade services, content regulation, pricing controls, product compliance and payment services.
- Advised a U.S. fertilizer manufacturing entity on the import, export and customs requirements for the import and export of a chemical fertilizer.
- Regularly advised multi-national entities and foreign law firms on the Malaysian customs and regulatory requirements.
Telecommunications, Media & Technology
- Advised a high-speed broadband network supplier on the roll-out of its operations in Malaysia.
- Advised a major telecommunications company in Malaysia on a media-related agreement.
- Advised a major telecommunications company in Malaysia on the drafting of terms and conditions for its procurement division.
- Advised a government linked company on its proposed roll-out of nationwide broadband services.
- Advised a US-based company on the start-up of an online applications store in Malaysia.
- Advised a local cinema on the requirements relating to royalty payments for music played in cinemas.
Corporate Governance
- Advised a Malaysian commercial and retail bank on the revisions to its corporate governance framework in line with the update on the corporate governance guidelines.
- Advised on the setup of an international commercial bank in Malaysia, including advising on the incorporation of the company and the drafting of internal banking policies.
- Advised Malaysian subsidiaries of international commercial banks on corporate governance and compliance requirements.
- Regularly advised clients on various regulatory issues, such as foreign exchange administration issues, advice on the provision of financial services, foreign investments etc.
Corporate Governance
- Advised a Malaysian commercial and retail bank on the revisions to its corporate governance framework in line with the update on the corporate governance guidelines.
- Advised on the setup of an international commercial bank in Malaysia, including advising on the incorporation of the company and the drafting of internal banking policies.
- Advised Malaysian subsidiaries of international commercial banks on corporate governance and compliance requirements.
- Regularly advised clients on various regulatory issues, such as foreign exchange administration issues, advice on the provision of financial services, foreign investments etc.
MEMBERSHIPS / DIRECTORSHIPS
- Member, Malaysian Bar
- Member, Kuala Lumpur Bar
PUBLICATIONS
- Author, “The Industrial Design (Amendment) Act 2013 – Monetising Industrial Design Rights”, published in The Sun (Malaysia)
- Co-author, “The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Malaysia” published in the Global Trade and Customs Journal, Volume 11, Issue 4