Heng Loong Cheong

Partner

Very driven, extremely personable, experienced and sharp; able to understand issues and offer pragmatic advice; good balance between technical strength and commercial practicality.

Chambers Asia Pacific 2021

Emailhengloong.cheong@akd.partners

Call+852 2103 0610

Hong Kong

About

Heng Loong Cheong is a Partner in the Corporate team, based in AKD Partners’s Hong Kong and Singapore offices. Heng Loong is an expert in both insurance M&A transactions and ASEAN regulatory issues. He has led on many cross-border mergers and acquisitions (both public and private), complex corporate reorganisations and equity and debt capital markets transactions. His practice also has a particular emphasis on the emerging markets. Heng Loong has led on various cross-border M&A and market entry transactions for our large insurance clients in Asia and Europe.

Heng Loong is currently Co-Head of the firm’s Insurance Sector in Asia with over 26 years’ experience in Europe and Asia, including more than 20 years insurance experience. He is also a non-official member of the Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) on General Business to the Hong Kong Insurance Authority (IA). Heng Loong works closely with our international insurance team and has experience in advising on portfolio transfers, insurance license applications and regulatory and compliance. He has advised brokers on regulatory issues in doing business throughout Asia and provided assistance to international insurers in establishing their business in various jurisdictions.

Heng Loong is recognised as a leading lawyer for China non-contentious insurance practice (international firm) by Chambers Asia-Pacific 2025, where a client described Heng as “an expert who provides reassurance to clients for complex matters and has built a unique relationship and trust with regulators. This sets him apart from the competition.”. Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2017 edition (Hong Kong: Insurance) notes client feedback that “Heng Loong Cheong is ’practical, responsive and has excellent industry knowledge’”. Heng Loong is also recognised as a leading Corporate/M&A lawyer, including most recently by Asia Pacific Legal 500 (2017) who consider him a ‘South East Asian expert’ for M&A and IFLR 1000, who ranked him as a leading individual in the area of Corporate/M&A in Hong Kong.

Prior to joining the firm in June 2012, Heng spent over 15 years in London and Hong Kong at London and New York headquartered international law firms focusing on M&A and complex corporate reorganisations and transactions.

Areas of FocusConsumer Goods, Food and Retail Insurance Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions Technology

Professional QualificationsSolicitor of the High Court of Hong KongSolicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales

EXPERIENCE

Advising Howden Insurance Brokers (HK) Limited, a renowned international insurance broking group, in its acquisition of Storfield Insurance Consultants Limited. Advising Marsh & McLennan Companies with its acquisition of Honan Insurance Group, a specialist broker based in Australia with business operations in Singapore and Malaysia, for AUD 680m.
Advising MGAs on new insurance agency licence applications in Hong Kong.
Advising on a potential distribution joint venture in Hong Kong between a life insurer and an insurance agency.
Advising Arcadis N.V. on the sale of its Hong Kong design and engineering and Singapore consulting businesses (together having approximately 500 employees) to Global Infrastructure Solutions Inc. (“GISI”), which shall double the size of GISI Asia operations.
Advising KLN Investment (US) LLC (an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Kerry Logistics Network Limited) with its acquisition of the Topocean Group, one of the world's leading freight forwarding and logistics service provider, for USD 240m.
Advising CVS Health and Aetna with Aetna’s disposal of its international private medical insurance business outside of the Americas and India to Allianz, including in Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, the PRC, Vietnam and the Philippines, where policyholders were introduced to Allianz Partners to be offered new Allianz policies upon lapse of their Aetna policies. The disposal in Hong Kong involved a statutory insurance transfer scheme whilst the disposal in Singapore involved a court approved scheme of insurance transfer.
Advising Aetna with its disposal of Thailand insurance business through a share sale to Allianz, including the related transitional services and trademark licensing arrangements.
Advising special purpose insurer Orchard ILS Pte Ltd. in the first ever Singapore catastrophe bond; sponsored by IAG, Series 2019-1 (multi-peril; USD 75m).
Advising an issuer of catastrophe bonds on whether the bonds would be regulated as contracts of insurance/ reinsurance in Hong Kong and whether the bondholders would be subject to regulation in Hong Kong as carrying on insurance business in/ from Hong Kong.
Advising Marsh & McLennan Companies, a renowned insurance intermediary group, in their global post-acquisition integration (with the former Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group) on nine APAC jurisdictions including the PRC, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Macau, Indonesia and the Philippines. Advising DUAL HK and DUAL SG on their disposal of renewal rights and related IP rights in Hong Kong and Singapore to Chubb and advising on the transitional services arrangement and related run-off arrangement.
Advising Fosun on its 85% investment in Peak Re, a USD 550m reinsurance start-up, with the International Finance Corporation as the minority 15% shareholder. Advising one of the leading insurance groups in China on the proposed acquisition of a Hong Kong life insurer as part of an auction process.
Advising an international insurance group on an intra-group portfolio transfer in Hong Kong of a book of life insurance business as part of an auction sale process.
Advising an international insurer on the potential sale of its Hong Kong general insurance subsidiary under an auction process.
Advising AIG and Liberty Mutual as underwriter's counsel on warranty and indemnity policies relating to several Asia M&A deals.
Advising Aflac Incorporated, a US insurer, on its USD 20m minority equity investment in Singapore Life, a digitally-focused life insurance company based in Singapore.
Advising CVS Health and Aetna as their international (non-US) insurance regulatory counsel for CVS Health's USD 69bn merger with Aetna.
Advising Aetna on its purchase as part of a competitive auction process of the Bupa Health insurance business in Thailand.
Acting as the preferred bidder's special advisers on insurance, legal, regulatory and key commercial issues in a competitive auction process to acquire Hong Kong Life.
Advising an international life and general insurance group as one of the bidders on the auction sale of a significant majority stake in PNB Life and related bancassurance agreement in the Philippines.
Advising a bidder on the proposed asset acquisition of the general insurance businesses of UK based international insurer RSA’s Hong Kong and Singapore branches. This transaction involved the issues concerning the carve out of two large business divisions from an international financial institution.
Advising Fosun on its 85% investment in Peak Re, a USD 550m reinsurance start-up, with the International Finance Corporation as the minority 15% shareholder.
Advising AXA on an intra-group portfolio transfer in Hong Kong of a book of life insurance business.
Advising Alleghany Corporation on the Hong Kong insurance regulatory aspects of the merger transaction with Transatlantic Holdings, Inc.
Advising a Hong Kong-based investment company on its potential acquisition of Hong Kong life insurance company as part of an auction process.
Advising Pelican Ventures on an acquisition of a Hong Kong cover holder of the Argo Group at Lloyd’s, which is part of the broader transaction to transfer the reinsurance business from Argo Group to Ariel Re.
Advising a global insurer on its internal insurance and non-insurance related restructuring/ reorganisation (i.e., between branch offices) in Asia Pacific across 10 jurisdictions and involving 15 entities, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.
Advising Omega Insurance Holdings Limited on the application for admission of its common shares to the Official List and to trading on the LSE Main Market for listed securities. Also advising on its concurrent offer, on behalf of its subsidiary Omega Dedicated Limited, to acquire up to GBP 125m of capacity on Lloyd’s Syndicate 958 for 2010 and each subsequent year of account, and on-going advice and counsel on corporate and securities matters.
Advising various international insurers and reinsurers on Asian market entry advice.

Languages

Awards

Heng Loong is recognised as a leading lawyer (Band 3) for Non-contentious Insurance practice in China (international firm) by Chambers Greater China Region 2022 - 2025
Heng Loong is endorsed as “Highly Regarded” lawyer for M&A in Hong Kong by IFLR1000 (2020 - 2022).
Heng Loong is recognised in Legal500 Asia Pacific (2021) in the field of Corporate and M&A (Foreign Firms) in China.
Heng Loong is recognised as a leading lawyer for China non-contentious insurance practice (international firm) by Chambers Asia Pacific 2021, where a client praises his “good balance between technical strength and commercial practicality”.
Heng Loong is recognised as a leading lawyer for China non-contentious insurance practice (international firm) by Chambers Asia Pacific 2019, where a client said that “Cheong Heng Loong is a 'very driven and impressive lawyer' who is 'extremely personable, experienced and sharp, being able to understand issues and offer pragmatic advice".
Heng Loong is recognised as a leading lawyer for China non-contentious insurance practice (international firm) by Chambers Asia Pacific 2018, the source said “He is a highly intelligent analytical individual who brings innovative solutions to resolving deal issues”.
Legal500 Asia Pacific 2017 edition (Hong Kong: Insurance) notes client feedback that "Heng Loong Cheong is ‘practical, responsive and has excellent industry knowledge’".

Education

Brasenose College, Oxford University, M.A., 2003

School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, M.A. China Area Studies (with Distinction), 1998

The College of Law, (England & Wales), Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, 1997

Brasenose College, Oxford University, B.A. Jurisprudence, 1996

Publications

Hong Kong: Should you deregister or liquidate that subsidiary?, 28 June 2022
"Insurance Sector Trends: Forecast for 2018 and 2017 Year End Review," Insurance Update, February 5, 2018