Profile of Kapil Kirpalani

By DLSAA Student Reporter, 3rd year UG and 2023/24 Employability Course finisher, Jack Ashurst.

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Kapil Kirpalani. The wide-ranging interview focused on his time in Durham, his career as a fund structuring and regulatory lawyer as well as being one of the two moving forces (together with Cordelia Cheung) behind the establishment of the Hong Kong Chapter. The article also details his experiences setting up a hedge fund and his role serving on the Campaign Board of Durham University.

Kapil is the Global Chief Compliance Officer for Reinsurance Group of America and is based in Hong Kong.

Early Career and Experiences in Durham

Kapil was initially attracted to study medicine at university. However, he saw law as creating a solid foundation for a variety of future careers. He was initially introduced to Durham through a close mentor at his school. He visited the city the summer before sitting his A levels and the difference between the town and the large metropolis of Hong Kong particularly stood out to him. The opportunity to live in such a quaint town was extremely appealing. He was also attracted to the University due to the collegiate environment and the well-renounced reputation the Law School held.

Whilst at Durham, Kapil was a part of St. Aidan’s College. His most memorable moment in Durham was his graduation. The small nature of the Law School, with around seventy graduates per year, meant that the graduation process was an exceptionally personable experience. For Kapil, this involved meeting and having a conversation with Sir Peter Ustinov.

When considering the aspect of his Durham experience he relies on the most in his career, Kapil details that it was the importance of relationships. Kapil notes “I've leveraged that skill set from Durham, where I first learned to communicate, build trust, garner respect, all of which are fundamentals of Durham graduates.”

Regulatory Law

Kapil practices law as a funds and regulatory lawyer. This area of law initially began to appeal to him due to the events of the financial crisis in 2007/08. This event had a major impact on regulation and the fact that each industry, in each country, had a different regulatory regime was intriguing. These regulations applied from a financial perspective and a legal perspective which was appealing.

Kapil initially practiced in London after graduation and moved back to Hong Kong in 2006.

For those readers interested in a career in regulatory law, Kapil stresses the importance of developing a strong understanding of the commercial context and to understand the detailed nuances which regulatory law often exist in. He details that regulatory lawyers must act as enablers for their clients to achieve their commercial goals. Due to this, he stresses the importance of communication as regulatory lawyers need to be able to communicate effectively to detail the unique requirements of the law to their clients.

In 2006, Kapil was involved with establishing a hedge fund and served as the General Counsel. This role involved setting up the initial funds and creating and reviewing all of the transaction documents. Kapil was also involved with the licencing of the fund which enabled it to set up a trading desk. After serving as General Counsel initially, the fund grew and Kirpalani became the Compliance Officer as well. Kapil Kirpalani has worked in various roles as Legal Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, after starting his career in private practice. He has now spent over a decade managing teams across the U.S. and the Asia Pacific region.

Kapil is currently the Global Chief Compliance Officer for Reinsurance Group of America. This role has three main focuses. The first focus is managing the group’s transactional work and focuses on completing the pre-deal due diligence. Due to the global nature of his role, Kapil is often involved in multiple deals, across multiple jurisdictions on a daily basis. This constant change is focus is the most rewarding aspect of his role due to the change in the nature of client demands as well as the change in regulatory structure which must be adhered to. The second focus is statutory compliance. This involves ensuring the necessary regulatory statutory filings are completed in each jurisdiction they are required in. The third focus is the Group’s own internal compliance in which he focuses on internal and Governmental investigations. He estimates that his time is split around 50% on transactions, 40% internal compliance, and 10% statutory compliance.

Within this role, Kapil has a team of around thirty lawyers.

Wider Involvements

Outside of his career, Kapil is involved as a member of the Durham University Campaign Board. This role involves being involved in quarterly board meetings and Kapil is tasked with sharing the Asian perspective on most decisions.

Kapil is also one of the two establishing members (Cordelia Yeung is the other) of the Hong Kong Chapter of the Durham Law School Alumni Association. This chapter will serve a valuable role for alumni based out of Hong Kong. Kapil hopes to achieve two key objectives through the local chapter. Firstly, to provide a personal community which hosts regular events for like-minded Durham alumni. The second goal is to create a strong professional network within the chapter to provide support for Durham alumni during the course of their career.

Outside of his professional life, Kapil is a keen runner, swimmer and tennis player. He has also been a guest lecturer at several Universities, and mentors tertiary students as well as junior practitioners on issues related to international regulation and law.

Acknowledgements

I would like to conclude by extending my thanks to Kapil Kirpalani for an engaging and insightful interview.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to Professor Philip Bennett, the Law School’s first Professor in Practice, and David Patient, Chair of the DLSAA Executive Committee, for giving me this opportunity.