Chandra Kusuma

Chandra is a Partner of NARA Law and heads its Banking, Finance and Fintech Practice Group and spearheads the firm’s international affairs and global networking compartment. Chandra’s main areas of practice cover banking and finance, fintech, mergers and acquisitions, general corporate and commercial, TMT (Technology, Media & Telecommunications) and digital economy, spanning e-commerce, payment services, crypto and digital assets.

He has more than 13 years of experience advising global enterprises, entrepreneurs and start-ups in their expansion into Indonesia, where he has successfully assisted clients in highly regulated sectors such as financial services (banking, multi finance, fintech, insurance), healthcare, manufacturing, trading and information technology with the structuring and implementation of their investment plans and corporate actions; setting up operations, shareholding and corporate structures; entering into joint ventures and partnership with local partners; advising on regulatory compliance and stakeholder engagement strategies including securing the relevant licenses to operate.

Before joining NARA Law, he worked at several corporate law firms, one of which was affiliated to an international law firm, during which he gained valuable hands-on experience, exposure and opportunity advising and working with international banks and multi-jurisdictional financial services in a wide range of complex banking and finance transactions within the realm of corporate financing, syndicated credit facilities, convertible loans, structured finance, trade finance, acquisition financing and debt financing.

Over the years, Chandra assists and advises numerous domestic and multinational fintech enterprises and startup clients in relation to their product design, deployment and compliance management, ecosystem partnership, corporate governance, business process reengineering, risk management and regulatory affairs in a variety of business models, such as, among others, Peer-to-Peer Lending, Digital Banking, Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL), Earned Wage Access (EWA), Payment Gateway, Remittance, E-Wallet and E-Money, Equity Crowdfunding, Insurtech, E-Commerce, Crypto Trading, Blockchain and Digital Assets, E-Logistics, Embedded Finance, Aggregator, Rent-to-Own, Credit Scoring and E-KYC, etc. It demonstrates his deep understanding of the regulations, best practices and also the perspectives of Indonesian regulators.

His extensive list of notable clients include, among others, Standard Chartered Bank (United Kingdom), SBI Holdings (Japan), NS Bluescope (Australia), Paytm (India), Kasikornbank (Thailand), Freedom Bank (Kazakhstan), JLG Industries (United States), Dover Corporation (Fortune 500 company – United States), PerkinElmer Inc (United States), Grassroots Business Investors Fund (United States), Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Inc (United States), Petrofac International LLC (United Arab Emirates), Loesche GmbH (Germany), Alstom (France) and Advance Intelligence Group (Singapore). This includes top-tier local clients that have enjoyed his legal service namely PT AIA Financial, PT Alstom Grid Indonesia, PT Bank Rabobank International Indonesia, PT Bank Commonwealth, PT Bank Neo Commerce Tbk, PT Krakatau Posco Chemtech and PT Krakatau Industrial Estate Cilegon.

Aside from those prestigious institutional clients, various emerging and prominent domestic and foreign start-ups have also enjoyed his legal services in the early days of their operation, particularly within the ambit of legal advisory and legal assistance for their market entry, business launching, investment structuring, product compliance and procurement of licenses, such as, among many others, Gradana, Pintek, SamaKita, AsetKu, Wagely, Kredit Pintar, CicilSewa, DanaBijak, Kredito, Doomo, BPS Credit Scoring, KawanCicil and various Singapore-based start-ups namely Brick, PeerHive, Matchmove, Jenfi, etc.

Throughout his career, Chandra held various executive positions as Chief Legal Officer, Legal Director and General Counsel at several prominent fintech companies in Asia where he worked with the founders and the management in fundraising transactions, corporate actions and day-to-day legal matters, and assisted them with license applications, rectification of compliance and communication with regulatory authorities. His extensive expertise in this industry is further evidenced by his significant credentials, having advised fintech investors in South East Asia, China, India and Europe with their regulatory compliance and licensing, strategic transactions and corporate actions including market entry through acquisitions in Indonesia.

As one of the earliest practitioners in this field who witnessed and contributed to the formulation and development of the first fintech legislations, directives and regulatory framework in the country, Chandra is acknowledged by industry leaders, key stakeholders and prominent clients in banking, finance and fintech industries, domestic and overseas, for his ability and creativity to shape effective legal strategies and craft curated, workable solutions to solve the most critical multidimensional challenges of his growing global clientele in a way that provides clarity around the risk they are facing while at the same time gives them confidence in their chosen options and path towards achieving their business goals.

Aside from his solid lawyering career, Chandra served as adjunct lecturer at several educational institutions such as the Faculty of Law of Trisakti University, UBS Business College, the Faculty of Economics of Trisakti University and ESMOD Fashion Design & Business School.