Our Story
Three decades of experience in ASIA
IAO ASIA is a boutique advisory firm of seasoned international and Cambodian experts in legal services, private equity, venture capital, project finance, and investment.
At IAO ASIA, we know Cambodia, the Greater Mekong Region, and the financial capitals of Asia and the World.
Our Vision
“Your Gateway to Cambodia and beyond”
As one of the fastest developing markets in Southeast Asia, the Kingdom of Cambodia offers attractive business opportunities, but also many challenges. Navigating the complexity of and thriving in the Kingdom requires expertise, as well as a deep understanding of the local business, political and legal/regulatory environments.
IAO ASIA is about
Investment, Advisory, Opportunity
Our values
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Agility
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Expertise
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Ethics
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Trust
OUR SENIOR PARTNER
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Joseph Lovell
Joseph is a New York-licensed attorney with three decades of Asia-focused legal, investment, and business experience. His areas of expertise include cross-border investment, banking & finance, real estate, and corporate law. Joseph has MA & JD degrees from the University of Hawai’i and a BS degree from Georgetown University. He is also licensed to practice law in Texas and Hawai’i.
Over the last decade, Joseph has advised on some of the biggest infrastructure investment projects in Cambodia, assisted numerous international banks and DFIs with crucial and significant liquidity loan support to Cambodian financial institutions, advised on significant M&A transactions, counseled global technology and telecommunications companies, coordinated international litigation, and supported IPOs and securities issuance.
Before founding IAO ASIA, he served as Managing Partner for two regional law firms with offices in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, COO/General Counsel for an emerging markets private equity fund management company in Cambodia, Managing Director/General Counsel for a financial group with offices in New York, London, and Beijing, Corporate Secretary and Counsel for a Beijing-based, LSE-listed private equity firm, Managing Attorney at a Honolulu law firm, board member for a number of companies and not-for-profit entities, and senior consultant at PwC (Taipei).
Joseph is a native English speaker fluent in Mandarin Chinese, with basic competency in Khmer, French, and Hokkien Chinese.
OUR ASSOCIATE PARTNER
Sophea SIN
Sophea is an Associate Partner at IAO Asia. She heads our Corporate Registration and Business Licensing Department. Before coming to IAO, Sophea was an Associate, Senior Associate and Head of Corporate Practice at three leading international law firms in Phnom Penh. Her expertise includes corporate formation, licensing compliance, and Qualified Investment Projects.
Sophea has more than a decade of legal experience, including advising a Chinese-based public company in relation to its acquisition of a five-star hotel in Cambodia, and was especially instrumental in conducting due diligence and structuring the real estate holding for that project. She also advised an international investment client in the establishment of a rice milling facility, including financing issues, drafting the joint-venture agreement, supply agreement, distribution agreement, and conducting land title due diligence and transfer. She also advised a major foreign investor on telecommunications licenses and corporate and commercial issues in support of its Cambodian market entry.
Sophea has a Bachelor of Law Degree from the Royal University of Law and Economics and a Master of Law in Business Law from University of Lumiere Lyon II (France).
Sophea is a native Khmer speaker, who is fluent in English, and has working proficiency in French and Mandarin Chinese.