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Yeo Wico, a Partner in Financial Services, has a well rounded practice with broad experience in corporate finance, capital markets, Islamic finance, structured finance, derivatives, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructuring, private equity and securities regulations. In 2005 and 2003, Wico advised on the largest IPO and the largest bond offering in Singapore. He was listed in PLC Which Lawyer? (2007 to 2009) as a highly recommended lawyer for equity capital markets in Singapore. In the 2009 edition, he was described as being “widely considered to be a very talented practitioner”. He was the lead transaction counsel on the SME Loan Securitisation transaction which was awarded by Asian Legal Business (ALB) Singapore Deal of the Year Award and Singapore Structured Finance and Securitisation Deal of the Year Award for 2007. Wico was named by The Asia Pacific Legal 500 (2008 to 2010) as a leading individual in banking and finance in Singapore.
Wico is the only Singapore lawyer to be listed as a leading lawyer for Islamic Banking & Finance by Islamic Finance News Leading Lawyers (2009). He has advised as lead transaction counsel on ground-breaking and award-winning transactions. He advised UOB Asia in arranging the first ever issue of Islamic bonds by Majlis Ugama Islam, Singapura (a breakthrough for the Singapore debt market) as well as the S$1 billion Islamic Trust Certificate Programme of City Developments Limited which was awarded ALB Debt Market Deal of the Year for 2009. This programme was the first Islamic certificate programme in Singapore and the first ever by a Singapore corporate to issue sukuk under the Ijarah financing principle. In 2009, he led the team advising as sole transaction counsel to the S$200 million Islamic Trust Certificate (Sukuk) Issuance Programme established by the Monetary Authority of Singapore with the aim of facilitating and promoting Islamic banking and finance. This was the first sukuk programme established by a statutory board in Singapore, the first reverse inquiry Ijara based sukuk from such a high quality issuer in the world and the first local currency sukuk to be established by a central bank of a non-Muslim majority jurisdiction.
He has advised on landmark IPOs and equity market transactions, such as SP AusNet (Singapore’s largest IPO in 2005 and second largest ever in Singapore, and first IPO of stapled securities and business trust in Singapore), Singapore Exchange (first IPO by an exchange worldwide), Singapore Post (Singapore’s largest IPO in 2003 and award winning deal) and the issue of equity securities by SingTel in its US$8.3 billion takeover bid for the Australian telecoms company, Optus - largest acquisition by a Singapore corporate.
Wico has advised on significant debt market and structured finance transactions, such as SP PowerAssets (US$2.2 billion global bond offering – Singapore’s largest bond offering by a corporate in 2003), SingTel (US$2.4 billion global bond offering - the Asia bond deal of 2001), Temasek (landmark inaugural US$1.75 billion global bond offering in 2005) and DBS Bank (debut synthetic securitisation of S$2.8 billion corporate loan portfolio - first publicly rated transaction by a bank in Asia (ex-Japan) to manage regulatory capital and hedge against credit default risk, and the establishment of the first rated and listed asset securitisation programme in Singapore – the S$2 billion MoneyPlus Short Term Note Programme).
After graduating from the National University of Singapore with an LLB (Hons) degree in 1991, Wico went on to obtain a Diploma in Banking and Finance from the Institute of Banking and Finance in Singapore. He was called to the Singapore Bar in 1992. He has also been admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in England & Wales and as an Attorney and Counselor-at-Law in the State of New York.
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