Sonia Sun

Senior Counsel, Tax and Investment Dept.

KPMG in Taiwan

Sonia Sun leads the firm’s financial and banking practice and is also an active member of KPMG Group’s Financial Service Advisory Group. Her areas of practice include financial institutions, PE/VC funds, and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Sonia constantly advises local and foreign financial institutions on various transactions, approval/registration, Fintech/payment investment and compliance-related projects. Prior to joining KPMG, Sonia Sun was senior counsel with a major financial institution where she took charge of legal support for the bank’s overseas investment and private equity operations. She had in-depth experience advising private equity and venture capital firms in connection with all aspects of their fund businesses, from structuring and formation of sponsor and PE funds, executing acquisitions and exit transactions, to providing corporate and financing advice to portfolio companies. Earlier in her legal career, Sonia had also practiced in the United States where she specialized in banking regulations, mergers and acquisitions for banks and securities law compliance.
 
 
Key Areas of Experience
  • Financial Institutions and FinTech – Provides risk assessment advice to domestic and foreign banks, advises financial holding companies, the insurance industry, securities industry and fund managers on regulatory compliance and legal matters, including compliance risk assessment, online banking, financial business, regulatory sandbox licensing/registration, fair dealing principles, CRS, AML/CFT, cyber security regulations, financial transactions, M&As and other compliance-related projects. Sonia has many years of experience as a senior legal counsel/legal compliance supervisor in financial institutions and she works closely with KPMG's financial tax/risk management and advisory department which enables Sonia and her team to have first-hand knowledge on changes in domestic and foreign financial regulations and its effect on business and operations of financial institutions. Sonia provides intellectual property, transactional and regulatory advice to a wide array of both established and emerging participants in the FinTech field.
 
  • PE/VC Representation – Advises private equity and venture capital firms in connection with all aspects of their business operations, including structuring and formation of domestic and foreign PE funds, assisting with the establishment of a fund’s internal operating procedures, drafting of private placement memorandums and other legal documents and assisting fund administrators on administrative matters. Sonia also advises both GPs and LPs (such as insurance companies and corporate investors) in the drafting and negotiation of fund investment documents (LPA, side letters, etc.) and she is familiar with the fundraising process, laws relating to investment and exit strategies and tax and commercial concerns which may arise.
 
  • M&A – Sonia Sun advises companies in cross-border mergers, acquisitions, investments and joint ventures (involving parties located around the world, including United States, mainland China, Europe, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia). She has represented several acclaimed companies, both domestic and foreign, in both domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and investments. Typical services include deal structuring, legal due diligence, contract drafting and negotiation, closing and post-closing management, dispute resolutions, etc.
 
  • Start-up Practice/Medical Startups – Sonia Sun advises start-ups and entrepreneurs on various issues startups face, including equity financing (seed, angel and VC financings), intellectual property and protection solutions, employee incentive plans, regulatory compliance and legality of new business model, privacy and lawful use of personal data, consumer law and dispute resolutions. As a key and active member of KPMG Taiwan’s Start-up Business Group, Sonia works closely with other KPMG professionals to provide holistic and integrated professional advice to startup firms.

 

Professional Service Experience
  • Regulatory Compliance for Financial Institutions(FinTech, AML, Privacy and Data Protection)
  • Financial Transactions of Financial Institutions
  • Private Equity & Venture Capital – Fund Formation, M&A and Disputes
  • Cross-border Mergers & Acquisitions/ Investment
  • Cross-border Investments
  • Corporate and Business Transactions
  • Securities/Capital Market
  • Intellectual Property for FinTech and Innovative Startups
  • Capital Markets
  • Disputes
  • Financial Services
  • Investment Management
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Private Equity
  • Public Policy and Regulatory Change
  • Securities
  • Tax
  • Transfer Pricing

  • Boston University School of Law, LL.M.

  • National Taiwan University, LL.B.

  • New York State