On Tuesday, August 24, Asia Society Northern California hosted an off-the-record Executive Roundtable program on the Chinese Government Regulations on IPOs with Partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, James Lin and Executive Director at Protocol, David Wertime.

Topics discussed included the new Data Security Law and State Council guidelines that provide review and oversight of IPOs in the U.S. market, implications for financial integration of the two economies, Beijing’s overall big picture and what the Chinese government is trying to accomplish, and the overall impact on Chinese companies. Melissa Ma, Asia Society Northern California Advisory Board member and Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Asia Alternatives moderated the discussion. 

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

James Lin

James C. Lin is a Partner in the Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP Corporate Department, resident in Hong Kong. His practice focuses on public and private corporate finance transactions, including initial public offerings, convertible and high-yield debt offerings and private equity investments, and mergers and acquisitions. Lin has worked on some of the most significant capital markets transactions in Asia, including with companies from the technology, media, Internet, healthcare, banking, natural resources, real estate, financial services, energy/oil and gas and other sectors. He is recognized as one of the leading capital markets lawyers in Hong Kong/China by top tier international legal directories and surveys, including Chambers and IFLR1000. Lin is fluent in English and Mandarin. 

David Wertime

David Wertime is Protocol's executive director. David is a widely cited China expert with twenty years' experience who has served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in China, founded and sold a media company, and worked in senior positions within multiple newsrooms. He also hosts POLITICO's China Watcher newsletter. After four years working on international deals for top law firms in New York and Hong Kong, David co-founded Tea Leaf Nation, a website that tracked Chinese social media, later selling it to the Washington Post Company. David then served as Senior Editor for China at Foreign Policy magazine, where he launched the first Chinese-language articles in the publication's history. Thereafter, he was Entrepreneur in Residence at the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, which owns the Philadelphia Inquirer. In 2019, David joined Protocol's parent company and in 2020, launched POLITICO's widely-read China Watcher. David is a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Research Associate at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for the Study of Contemporary China, a Member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and a Truman National Security fellow. 

Melissa Ma (moderator)

Melissa J. Ma (Moderator) is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Asia Alternatives. She splits her time between Asia Alternatives' Hong Kong and San Francisco offices. Melissa is on the Firm's Investment Committee and co-leads Asia Alternatives' investments in buyout, direct co-investments and special situations. In addition, she oversees investor relations, asset allocation and investment strategy and process. Melissa received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and holds an A.B. in Economics and East Asian Studies, magna cum laude, from Harvard College. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English.