Joel currently serves as the Executive Director and Head of Compliance & Governance, South-East Asia for Razorpay International Services. He is responsible for Razorpay’s Compliance and Governance operations for South-East Asia. Razorpay Group is one of India’s largest financial technology unicorns, last valued at US$7.5b.

Prior to Razorpay, Joel led as Chief Compliance Officer for Kristal Advisors, a prominent AI-enabled, multinational multi-billion AUM retail fund management company. His outstanding leadership in Kristal is reflected in the clinching of regional regulatory licenses and exemptions and serving as a Board Director of Kristal.AI Variable Capital Company. He successfully led the listing of Kristal.AI Variable Capital Company, where he served as a Board Director, on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange in 2023.

Joel’s first Board and C-Suite appointment at a Central-Bank regulated financial institution took place in 2017 at the age of 28. He was appointed Chief Operating Officer and Board Director of Crossbridge Capital, a multi-billion AUM global asset management firm. The Board appointment was subject to the approval of the Central Bank. He led the entire operations of Crossbridge, including its Legal, Compliance, Information Technology and Client Services divisions.

Subsequently in 2021, he was appointed Group Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Operating Officer for the Incomlend Group of Companies which operates a multi-billion fund management and trade financing facilitation platform. He obtained multiple licenses regionally for the Group and led its entire Operations including Legal, Compliance, Client Services divisions. He served as a member of the Board for Incomlend’s flagship Fund Management company in Singapore.

A Corporate Shareholder / Board Member commented in 2021, "Joel is a pleasure to work with, he is so genuine and invested, and brings so much value to the table with his commercial connections, extensive work experience managing sizeable Legal and Compliance teams and governance experience as Board Director of a few Central Bank regulated Financial Institutions".

In addition, Joel has been a guest and speaker at various seminars and conferences in the legal and compliance industry. Notably, he has been invited as one of the distinguished judges at the recently concluded Thomson Reuters Asian Legal Business Pan Asian Regulatory Awards 2024, judging over 20 award classes. He was further honored as the opening award presenter for the awards.

In his personal capacity, Joel lends support to his family’s philanthropic efforts through their multi-decade involvement in education and poverty alleviation in East Asia, and his continued involvement in a number of voluntary welfare, religious and charitable organizations. He actively speaks at his alma mater, where he is a member of the Alumni Advancement committee and at other institutes of higher learning, providing insights into the Financial Services industry and the Legal, Compliance, Governance practices.

Joel was awarded an Imperial College Scholarship at the age of 30, and graduated from the prestigious Imperial College London with an MBA with honours.

Notable Commercial Transaction Leadership and Involvement

• Obtainment of an in-principle approval for the listing of a Oil Storage Terminal Asset, Business Trust on the Singapore Exchange in 2014, c. Market Capitalisation, S$3b.

• Establishment and On-going Compliance of a Multi-Asset/Hedge-Fund Cayman Island Segregated Portfolio Company with a target fund size of US$1b, in 2015

• Establishment and On-going Compliance of a Cayman Island Real Estate Investment Fund with a target fund size of US$150m, in 2016

• Obtainment of Type 4 and Type 9 Licenses, issued by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (HK SFC), for a China-listed Asset Manager, in 2016

• Obtainment of China Securities and Futures Commission (CSRC) approval for a China-listed Asset Manager’s pioneer overseas acquisition of two regulated fund managers in Singapore and to launch an application with the HK SFC, in 2016.

• Launch Singapore’s First Digital Robo-advisory Business for a subsidiary of a Blue-chip Switzerland-listed Private Bank, appointed Board Director in 2017

• Advised on Singapore’s First Fully-Digital Onboarding experience and setup in Robo-advisory Business in 2017. Advised on Singapore’s First MyInfo integration for frictionless onboarding, for Robo-advisory Business in 2018

• Advised a Singapore fund management subsidiary of a Switzerland-listed private bank on the onboarding of a corporate client that raised the world’s largest Initial Coin Offering (ICO) to date. This included assessing the client’s admissibility and conducting necessary due diligence to comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) obligations in 2018.

• Obtainment of a United State Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) registration for a Singapore fund management subsidiary of a Switzerland-listed private bank in 2018

• Advised on a multi-billion global trade financing platform on the Payment Services Act, advising on Hong Kong Money Service Operators Licensing Systems and Hong Kong Money Ordinance in 2020, leading to license award.

• Obtainment of a Capital Market Services License in Singapore and was appointed Board Director, and obtained exemptions under the Payment Services Act for a multi-billion global trade financing platform in 2020.

• Establishment of one of Singapore’s pioneer Trade Finance focused Variable Capital Companies (VCC) with a target fund size of US$1b in 2020.

• Establishment of a Luxembourg Trade Finance focused Fund with a target fund size of US$250m, regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier of Luxembourg in 2021

• Advised a multi-billion retail fund management company’s business and obtainment of regulatory footprint growth in Abu Dhabi and Dubai between 2022 and 2024, the continuing management and growth of retail regulated presence in Singapore, Hong Kong and India

• Successfully listed a pioneer Singapore VCC on the Cayman Island Stock Exchange in 2023, appointed Board Director for the Singapore VCC entity in 2022.