Kennedy Chen

Kennedy Chen is a Partner in the Corporate and Financial Services Regulation Practice Group at Harry Elias Partnership in Singapore. His practice focuses on Mergers and Acquisitions.

Chen Jianhao Kennedy is regarded in Singapore as a complete professional possessing an immaculate track record spanning ASEAN, APAC, the Americas, European Union and Greater China/PRC, embodying on-the-ground experience involving cross-border and Singapore law, corporate, securities, transactional, financial, IPO, regulatory compliance, branding and intellectual property, risks and disputes management, private wealth and business strategy.

His focused multi-disciplinary practice covers: domestic and cross-jurisdiction mergers and acquisitions and company business establishment (private, public, including distressed or leveraged buyouts and debt work-outs), shareholder relationships, pre-M&A and post-merger integration and reorganisation; private equity and venture capital; IPO, equity and debt capital markets, securities financing; funds formation and regulation, including VCC (variable capital company) work; foreign direct investment and outward direct investment, and transnational cross-border inbound and outbound joint ventures and expansion; insolvent and solvent restructuring; internal and external regulatory and compliance, and corporate and personal risk-management requirements; projects and deals management; crisis or dispute prevention and control; commercial and business strategy structures; and negotiation methodologies.

He holds an LLB (Hons) from the National University of Singapore. He is a member of the Singapore Academy of Law and The Law Society of Singapore, serves as Company Secretary of listed companies, and is the first Singapore representative recognised on the mediator panel of the International Commercial Mediation Centre for Belt and Road Initiative. He also serves on the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Financial Disputes Resolution Centre (FIDReC) Panel, the Singapore Ministry of Law's Panel of Assessors for COVID-19 Temporary Relief, and the Trainer and Facilitator Panel for the Singapore Institute of Legal Education Preparatory Course and Singapore Bar Examinations. He speaks English, Mandarin, Min-Chinese, Cantonese and Bahasa.

His awards and accolades include the "Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Excellence Award 2025" by the Law Society of Singapore, for which he is the sole lawyer to receive this inaugural award; "Southeast Asia Young Lawyer of the Year (1 of 15)" – Asian Legal Business 2025; "M&A Rising Star Partner" – IFLR1000 2025; "Southeast Asia 40 Under 40" and "Asia (including Greater China) 40 Under 40" – LexisNexis 2024; and "Singapore's 21 Most Influential Lawyers Aged 40 and Under" – Singapore Business Review 2020.

Asialaw Profiles has praised Kennedy as "efficient, responsive and creative," and Legal 500 Asia Pacific has noted his "timely advice and great turnaround time," with one client commenting: "We engaged Kennedy Chen our legal counsel for a recent acquisition, and were thoroughly impressed by the level of professionalism, strategic insight, and responsiveness throughout the deal process. He demonstrated a deep understanding of M&A complexities, provided clear and practical advice at every stage, and navigated negotiations with precision and integrity."