Giselle Bates is the Group General Counsel – APAC for Allegis Group, one of the world’s largest consulting and recruitment firms. She leads a legal and company secretarial team across Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore, Australia, and India.

With over a decade of experience in multi-jurisdictional legal and compliance leadership, Giselle has spent 14 years in Hong Kong and Japan. Her expertise includes commercial contracts, M&A, employment law, litigation, and regulatory compliance, but her passion lies in developing people and leveraging technology to enhance efficiency.

Giselle has mentored through AustCham Hong Kong and Women in Law Japan, and volunteers at HELP for Domestic Workers in Hong Kong. Previously, she practiced commercial and industrial real estate law at Minter Ellison and Ashurst. She holds a BA (Japanese) and LLB (Hons) from Monash University and is admitted to practice in Victoria and New South Wales. 

Iris Deng formerly served as the Head of Legal for Hong Kong, Taiwan and China Hygiene at Reckitt Benckiser Hong Kong Limited, a company under Reckitt Benckiser Group plc. Reckitt specializes in marketing and distribution of personal care and home care products, with renowned brands such as Dettol, Durex, Move Free, Finish and Strepsils firmly holding the top position in global market share.

Iris has over 15 years of experience as a legal counsel working in the consumer goods industry and is skilled in Foreign Direct Investment, Corporate Law, Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property, and Compliance. As an in-house general counsel, Iris focuses her proficiency on crisis management, government affairs, enforcement against IP infringers, and regulatory compliance.

Prior to Reckitt, Iris worked at Colgate-Palmolive, Vibram and Shell.

Julie Prickett is an award-winning executive leader with over 19 years of experience in the financial sector, specializing in legal and compliance. She has extensive international experience across France, the UK, the US, Switzerland, Canada, and APAC, with expertise in re/insurance, asset management, regulatory, and corporate governance matters.

Julie is currently the Head of Corporate Affairs, Asia Pacific at AXA Investment Managers Asia Limited, where she oversees corporate matters, provides strategic legal and regulatory advice, and ensures robust governance. She is a member of the AXA IM Select Asia Management Committee. She sits on several boards within the APAC region and is part of the AXA Group General Counsel’s leadership team.

Her previous roles include Chief Legal & Compliance Officer at AXA Hong Kong, Head of Legal & Compliance at AXA IM Select Asia, Group Legal COO at AXA S.A., and General Counsel at AXA Global Life in France. She has also worked as a public prosecutor for the Western Australian Government, in private practice at an international law firm, and at the United Nations (UNESCO) in Paris.

Julie is qualified as a barrister and solicitor in Australia and admitted to the Bars in Western Australia, Victoria, and the High Court of Australia. She has received multiple accolades, including ALB Asia Top 15 In-House Teams 2022 and ALB Hong Kong In-House Lawyer of the Year 2021.

Kat has 15+ years general commercial experience advising multinational companies (including start-up and early growth companies, and international exchanges) across the financial services and FinTech sectors.  She currently serves as Counsel at Polynomial Partners, a start-up hedge fund with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, London and New York.

Outside of work, she is the current president of the board of ACC Hong Kong and also sits on the Board of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong, where she leads the association's policy and advocacy efforts.

Kat holds an LLB from the University of East Anglia, a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Skills from City University of London, and an Executive MBA from INSEAD. She is a qualified barrister in England and Hong Kong.

Eddie Bao is Senior Legal Counsel & Director at SS&C Technologies, overseeing all legal matters across Asia Pacific. As Head of Legal APAC, he plays a key role in senior management, handling customer contracts, HR, compliance, data privacy, and regulatory matters.

Before joining SS&C, Eddie was Corporate Counsel, APAC at Ciena in Hong Kong and previously worked in private practice with Gilbert + Tobin (Technology, Media & Telecommunications) and King & Wood Mallesons (M&A) in Melbourne.

With a strong interest in technology and legal innovation, Eddie actively engages with in-house counsel across the industry. He holds a Bachelor of Law (Hons) and Bachelor of Commerce from Monash University and is admitted to practice in Victoria, Australia.