INSOL Asia Hub is launching its next Vlog Series ‘Women at the forefront of Restructuring & Insolvency in Asia’. In this upcoming series, we will interview a few of the outstanding women within the Restructuring & Insolvency space in Asia to gain valuable insights from their experiences, inspirations, and challenges. We look forward to hearing their stories and advice to other women interested in making insolvency and restructuring their specialty of choice.
INSOL International seeks to promote diversity in all of its activities, and we are thankful to G36 firm Rajah and Tann for sponsoring and hosting this initiative, and to the Deputy Head of its Restructuring & Insolvency practice, Sheila Ng, a Fellow of INSOL International, for graciously leading the interviews for this Series. Look out for the first episode in July 2023.
Episode 9: Kim Sy Nae, Yulchon LLC
Kim Sy Nae is a partner at Yulchon LLC, which she joined in 2011 , specialising in insolvency and restructuring. With over a decade of experience, she is widely recognised for her expertise in corporate rehabilitation, liquidation, and international restructuring, advising major creditors, debtors, and financial institutions on navigating Korea’s dynamic insolvency framework. During a secondment with Kobre & Kim in the United States in 2017 , Sy Nae gained first-hand experience in U.S. bankruptcy proceedings, strengthening her international expertise.
In 2023-2024, leading legal directories acknowledged Sy Nae’s expertise, with accolades that include recognitions as a Future Star in Commercial and Transactions by Benchmark Litigation, Next Generation Partner by Legal 500 in Dispute Resolution and one of the Highly Regarded Women Leaders in Restructuring and Insolvency by IFLR 1000, underscoring her prominent role in the field .
Sy Nae is a Board member of the Insolvency Law Institute of Korea and an active contributor to the industry through speaking engagements and published articles, including the Korea chapter for Global Restructuring Review and Chambers Global. As Co-Chair of IWIRC Korea, she is committed to advancing the visibility and contributions of women in restructuring and insolvency both in Korea and across the region
Episode 8: Jocelyn Chi, Kroll
Jocelyn Chi is the Managing Director at Kroll’s Restructuring Practice, based in the Hong Kong SAR office.
Her journey into corporate insolvency, investigations, and restructuring began as a fresh graduate. She was among the founding members of Borrelli Walsh, a specialist firm in restructuring, corporate recovery, insolvency, and forensic accounting, which was acquired by Kroll in late 2020.
With extensive experience across Asia, Jocelyn has led numerous high-stakes forensic, restructuring, insolvency, dispute resolution, and investigation assignments. Her expertise spans compulsory and voluntary liquidations, Independent Financial Advisory (IFA) roles, schemes of arrangement and capital and debt restructurings for both private and publicly listed groups. She has led complex investigations into international assets and liabilities, traced funds, analysed financial and operational affairs, and supported litigation and negligence claims.
Recently invited to join INSOL International’s Asia Advisory Council (AAC), Jocelyn is poised to leverage her expertise to shape the AAC’s direction. She is set to lead initiatives addressing the region’s evolving restructuring and insolvency landscape while fostering stronger collaborations within the industry across Asia.
Jocelyn has also been at the forefront of significant cases. One standout is her role as Joint and Several Liquidator of Gatecoin, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange. This case marked the first liquidation of a cryptocurrency exchange in Hong Kong and involved identifying, securing, and realizing crypto assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum tokens.
Her achievements have earned her global recognition. Jocelyn has been ranked as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal and was most recently named an Exceptional Expert in Financier Worldwide Magazine’s Power Players: Restructuring & Insolvency 2024.
Episode 7: Misha, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.
Misha is a Partner with Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. She has been with the firm's Dispute Resolution practice for more than 18 years and has extensive experience in commercial and banking litigation with specialisation in insolvency and bankruptcy matters. With the enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 ( Code), she has been spearheading the firm’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy practice before the National Company Law Tribunal and been involved in many major headline transactions and litigation for the largest non-performing asset accounts referred for the insolvency resolution process under the Code by the Reserve Bank of India. Her clients include both private and public sector banks .
Misha has been recognised by many leading legal ranking agencies for her track record and demonstrated expertise in corporate insolvency and restructuring over her years of practice and received her most recent recognition in the 2024 Chambers & Partners Asia Pacific rankings and was acknowledged once again in 2024 as a Litigation Star by Benchmark
She regularly contributes to thought leadership platforms and was part of the team involved in the deliberations and drafting of the report by the Insolvency Law Committee appointed by the Government of India to review implementation of the Code. The report of the Committee was instrumental in bringing in the amendments to the Code. Misha continues to regularly interact with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India in formulation of the regulations under the Code. Her contributions extend to articles on important topics on the insolvency landscape of India in various journals and publications and as a panellist speaker in various foreign and domestic fora.
Misha graduated from National Law School of India University, Bangalore with B.A. LL.B, (Hons) and is a member of the Bar Council of India.
Episode 6: Angela Ee, Ernst & Young
Angela is EY’s Asean and Singapore Turnaround & Restructuring Strategy leader. She has extensive restructuring and insolvency experience involving complex legal and commercial issues across various industries and is ranked by Who’s Who Legal as a Global Elite Thought Leader. Angela advises companies and stakeholders in distress situations and takes on appointments as Judicial Manager, Scheme Manager, Receiver and Liquidator. As a Capital Markets Services licensed representative, she specializes in the restructuring/ judicial management of listed companies, and advising companies on strategic options, carve out/ divestment of businesses and assets.
Angela is a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner, practicing member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA), Fellow and Vice Chairperson of the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Singapore, a member of the International Insolvency Institute and an advisory board member of the Singapore Management University’s Singapore Global Restructuring Initiative.
Episode 5: Honourable Justice Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan, Federal Court of Malaysia
The Honourable Justice Tan Sri Nallini Pathmanathan is a judge of the Federal Court of Malaysia , the apex court in Malaysia. She holds a degree in Physiology from the University of London and undertook the conversion course in law, prior to being called to the English Bar in 1984. She began her career as an advocate and solicitor with Skrine in Kuala Lumpur and left a successful commercial practice after 21 years when she was invited to join the bench in 2007 as Judicial Commissioner. She was elevated to the High Court in 2009 and subsequently promoted to the Court of Appeal in 2014, and the Federal Court in 2018 where she presently sits, the first female judge of Indian ethnicity to be appointed to this prestigious position. Her journey to the highest echelons of the Malaysia’s legal system is an emphatic endorsement of her diligence , deep expertise, and exceptionally vast experience in the handling of commercial cases .
In June 2021 , Justice Nallini who serves as the President of The Middle Temple Alumni Association of Malaysia was elected as a Bencher of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple . Most recently in 2023 , she was appointed by the Prime Minister of Malaysia for a two -year term as a member of the Judicial Appointments Commission and conferred by the King of Malaysia for her meritorious accomplishments, the Panglima Setia Mahkota (P.S.M.) award which carries the honorific title ‘Tan Sri’ .
She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators as well as a certified mediator.
Justice Nallini co-authored a book entitled the ‘Law of Dismissal’ which was published in 2003 and continues to curate and review articles and otherwise provide editorial support to the Malaysian judiciary’s publication and the Malaysian Civil Procedure(2018) Edition which is the Malaysian equivalent of the White Book, as well as the first edition of Bullen & Leake & Jacob’s Malaysian Precedents of Pleadings.
Episode 4: Yuri Sugano, Nishimura & Asahi
Yuri Sugano is a partner at Nishimura & Asahi in the firm’s Restructuring and Insolvency (R&I) practice. She has more than 20 years’ experience with a strong record in handling complex cross-border restructuring and insolvency cases and has guided foreign clients from a range of industries on corporate reorganisations and turnarounds of their Japanese subsidiaries. Her expertise also extends to a wide range of labour law issues in her capacity as the co -head of the Labour Law team .
Yuri’s is notably a leading R&I practitioner and her accomplishment in this field was most recently recognised by the International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation(IWIRC) when she was named as its Asia Woman of the Year in Restructuring for 2023. She has also been ranked as one of the Top 15 Female Lawyers 2023 by Asian Legal Business and endorsed as the Restructuring and Insolvency Lawyer of the Year for the 2023 Women in Business Law Asia-Pacific commendation.
Yuri is a supporter of DEI (Diversity ,Equity and Inclusion) practices and serves as a director of the Lawyers for LGBT and Allies Network (LLAN) .
She is a graduate of Kyoto University, Faculty of Law in 2001 and was admitted to practice law in Japan in 2003. In 2012 she obtained her LLM from the New York University School of Law.
Episode 3: Pooja Mahajan, Chandhiok & Mahajan
‘Pooja Mahajan is the Managing Partner of Chandhiok & Mahajan, Advocates & Solicitors (C&M), an Indian full-service law firm. She leads the firm’s Restructuring & Insolvency(R&I) practice which includes advising on mergers and acquisitions, inbound and outbound investments, debt restructuring and corporate insolvency.
Pooja has been ranked as a ‘Litigation Star’ by Benchmark Litigation Asia- Pacific in its 2023 edition, and as a ‘Leading Lawyer’ in the Chambers and Partners Asia Pacific Guide 2022 for her expertise in the R&I space as well as earned a listing in the Super 50 Lawyers’ group of Asian Legal Business in 2021.She was the recipient of’ 40 Under 40’ in India awarded by the Legal Era magazine and recognised by Restructuring by IFLR1000 as a ‘Highly Regarded’ lawyer.
She serves on the executive board of INSOL India and is part of the IWIRC (International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation) India Network Board and Asia leadership group. Pooja has worked closely with the World Bank on various projects in the R&I field as India’s representative on the Bank’s 2019 Task Force for MSME Insolvency and the 2022 Taskforce for Insolvency & Creditor/Debtor Regimes.
Pooja has authored/ co-authored many thought leadership articles in the R&I space and is actively involved in the Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) efforts for skill-building insolvency professionals sharing her expertise at events organised by IBBI and other insolvency professional agencies including with young minds in her lectures at various universities.
Pooja has first-class honours in Bachelor in Laws from the University of Delhi and holds a distinction in Bachelor in Civil Law from the University of Oxford.
Episode 2: Phyllis McKenna, Official Receiver of the HKSAR Government
Phyllis McKenna is the Official Receiver of the Hong Kong SAR Government (Govt) overseeing its insolvency services and has held this position since her appointment on 10th February 2017. She joined the Govt in 1988 as a solicitor, working over the years in rotational stints with the Companies Registry, Lands Registry, Lands Department, and the Official Receiver’s Office in various positions and rising through the ranks before being appointed to her current post.
She holds an LLB (Hons) from Edinburgh University, and started her career as a solicitor in Edinburgh, specializing in commercial and corporate law, and moved on to join the in-house legal team of a merchant bank before relocating to HK.
Phyllis has made major contributions to the corporate and insolvency space in HK, and these include the rewrite of the HK Govt’s Companies Ordinance (Cap.622) and drafting the proposed Companies (Corporate Rescue) Bill to introduce a statutory corporate rescue procedure and insolvent trading provisions in Hong Kong; yet to be taken forward.
Phyllis lends support to the International Association of Insolvency Regulators (IAIR), an international body that brings together the collective experiences and expertise of a diverse group of government insolvency regulators from around the world, in her capacity as Executive Committee member of IAIR.
This Episode is a collaborative effort with IAIR in recognition of the institutional leadership and core commitment of INSOL and IAIR in harnessing inclusion and diversity across the insolvency and restructuring landscape, from insolvency practitioner firms and legal practices to regulatory bodies.
Episode 1: Jane Jiang, Allen & Overy, Shanghai
Jane Jiang is a partner at the Shanghai office of Allen & Overy, leading its restructuring practice. She is well regarded for her extensive expertise in advising financial services clients on a variety of regulatory issues and cross-border disputes and insolvencies. Jane is advantageously positioned to act on multi -jurisdictional cases as she is well versed with the legal and regulatory environment in China and understands the corporate culture and sensitivities of Chinese clients in cross- border transactions. She is a trusted adviser for many first-tier Chinese companies for their international operations and disputes outside of China and has guided international creditors with PRC-related restructurings and the PRC Enterprise Bankruptcy Law insolvency regime. In addition to leading the PRC institutions through overseas processes and international creditors with Chinese regulatory engagement, she is a specialist in policy developments in the restructuring space.
Jane is qualified to practice in the UK and Hong Kong and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She also serves on the Asian Advisory Council of INSOL.
