Katrina Banh

Partner and Head of Asia

As Partner and Head of Asia at Optima Partners, Katrina leads the firm’s Hong Kong and Singapore offices and advises alternative investment managers on global regulatory compliance, governance, and risk management. A trusted adviser for over 15 years in Hong Kong, first as a lawyer in funds management and later as a consultant, she has developed a deep understanding of the complex and evolving regulatory landscape across jurisdictions. She has advised on the setup of more than 200 hedge and private equity funds across SFC, SEC, and MAS regimes, leveraging her expertise in funds management, insider trading, AIFMD, and related areas to provide pragmatic, commercially aligned solutions.

Before joining Optima Partners, Katrina was the Global Chief Compliance Officer at Roc Partners, where she launched its WOFE in China and managed its SFC Type 1, 4, and 9 business. She also served as a Director at Duff & Phelps, specialising in regulatory consulting and operational risk management, and previously established the Hong Kong office of Kinetic Partners (later acquired by Kroll) after beginning her career as a funds management lawyer at Simmons & Simmons and Linklaters. Katrina is admitted to practise law in New South Wales, Australia, and is fluent in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Taiwanese and proficient in Japanese.

Katrina is an author for Lexology Panoramic and writes the Hong Kong Fund Management chapter annually, this content is syndicated to leading legal research platforms, including Bloomberg Law, Westlaw Edge, and LexisNexis. Katrina is a regular speaker at Fund Management and AIMA events, including its Annual Forum.

At Optima, Katrina works with global managers established in Asia and local managers seeking to build an international footprint and to design and implement global compliance frameworks, strengthen governance controls and manage regulatory risk across SFC, MAS, SEC, and CFTC regimes.