The latest moves and appointments for senior roles for Asia-Pacific wealth management.

Sullivan & Cromwell
Sullivan & Cromwell has moved Chris Beatty, partner, to the Asia-Pacific region to bolster its finance, special situations and private credit practice in the region. Beatty will be based in the firm’s Sydney office with a secondary office in Hong Kong supporting his work across the region.

Beatty’s practice focuses on cross-border corporate finance transactions and restructurings, advising sponsors, corporations, funds, lenders and broker-dealers on original credit and workout transactions globally. Beatty has expertise in special situations, distressed debt transactions, rescue finance, liability management and restructuring, acquisition finance and secured and unsecured corporate finance transactions.

Prior to his time in the Asia-Pacific region, Beatty was based in the firm’s London office from 2014 to 2022, before which he was resident in its New York and Sydney offices.

The law firm has been present in the Asia region for almost a century, providing US, Hong Kong and English law advice to international clients throughout the region. 

“Chris is an outstanding lawyer who brings a strong commercial perspective to complex matters on behalf of our global client base,” Sullivan & Cromwell co-chairs Robert J Giuffra Jr and Scott Millerm.

“Chris’s experience on cross-border transactions and multi-jurisdictional restructurings across Europe, the United States and Asia-Pacific will be a huge asset as we continue to devote important resources to the Asia-Pacific region to meet client demand and build on our presence in the pan-Asian credit finance and special situations market.”

The firm has a roster of more than 50 lawyers in Asia, working in Beijing, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Sydney and Tokyo. In total, it has about 900 lawyers in the US, Europe and Asia.

Financial Markets Authority
New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority has appointed Sharon Thompson to join its newly-formed enterprise leadership team as executive director – transformation and operational delivery.

Thompson has extensive, senior leadership experience in both the New Zealand public sector and financial services industry. She is joining the FMA from Inland Revenue, where she was deputy commissioner for the Customer and Compliance Services (Individuals) group. Prior to Inland Revenue, Thompson held senior posts at ASB Bank and Westpac. She has a master's in management from Massey University.

abrdn
Tina Tong has joined abrdn – formerly known as Standard Life Aberdeen – as head of wholesale distribution, Hong Kong, with immediate effect. 

In her newly-created role, Tong reports to David Hanzl, head of wholesale, Asia-Pacific.

Her career spans more than 20 years. Most recently, she was the vice president for distribution at Matthews Asia. During her 10-year tenure at that business, she was responsible for fund distribution activities to private banks, family offices, funds of funds, external asset managers and insurance companies. Prior to that, Tong served as director of business development at Peak Capital where she was involved in offering investment solutions to institutions, private banks, insurers and financial advisors.