Teresa Ko is China chairman of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and specialises in securities and M&A work in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
As the founding partner of the firm's renowned Asia equity capital markets practice, Teresa is a leader in advising Chinese state-owned and privately-owned enterprises and international companies on their Hong Kong listings including L'Occitane, SBI, Sunshine Oilsands, CITIC Securities, Aliaba.com, Chow Tai Fook and Agricultural Bank of China - the world's largest IPO.
Teresa has also led many high profile M&A transactions, including the largest banking takeover in Hong Kong, the first ever three way privatisation of a Chinese state owned company, and China outbound transactions. She has been very active in legal and regulatory reforms in Hong Kong, particularly relating to the Hong Kong securities market.
Teresa is a Non-Executive Director of the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong, a deputy chairman of the Hong Kong Takeovers Panel and a member of the Hong Kong Exchange Fund Advisory Committee. She served on the Listing Committee of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange from 2006 to 2012, the first three years as a deputy chairman and the last three years as chairman. Recently, Teresa has been appointed as member of the Expert Advisory Committee for M&A by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Teresa was awarded Best Capital Markets Lawyer by the Asia Women in Business Law Awards 2012, Dealmaker of the Year by the ALB Hong Kong Law Awards 2011, and was selected as one of the 25 Women of Our Time by the South China Morning Post in 2011.
Teresa earned a first class masters degree in law from Jesus College, Cambridge, England.