Described as “an icon in the industry”, Ms Teresa Ko BBS JP FCG HKFCG is one of the most prominent corporate and securities lawyers in Hong Kong.
Ms Ko is the founding partner of Freshfields’ Asia equity capital markets practice and has helped numerous Chinese state-owned, privately-owned and international companies to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE), including advising on eight out of the ten largest IPOs in Hong Kong. She also has an impressive record on public and private M&A transactions and advises on joint ventures and corporate governance matters.
Among her many public service appointments, Ms Ko currently serves as vice-chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees and as chair of its Due Process Oversight Committee. She was also a member of the Trustee Sustainability Steering Committee which oversaw the establishment of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).
Ms Ko was the first female to chair the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s Listing Committee between 2009 and 2011 and was deputy chair for three years before then. She currently serves as co-chair of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s Listing Review Committee and a deputy chair of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)’s Takeovers and Mergers Panel.
Ms Ko also served as a non-executive director of the SFC in 2012 to 2018.
Amongst her many accolades, Teresa was recently recognised as a HERoes Executive Role Model in 2023 for the sixth consecutive year and ranked fifth place in 2023’s list of 100 role models. She was also named in IFLR1000 Women Leaders 2022 - an elite ranking for the most prominent women lawyers globally and in Forbes’ ‘Asia's Power Businesswomen’ list 2021.