Full Name
Samson Leo
Job Title
Chief Legal Officer
Company
Fazz Financial Group
Speaker Bio
Samson Leo is currently the Chief Legal Officer of Fazz Financial Group and StraitsX (formerly Xfers), which are both high-growth “Fintech 250” companies.
Under Samson’s leadership, Fazz (StraitsX, formerly Xfers) has been recognised by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and has also received 9 police awards to date for continued efforts in fighting cybercrime. Samson was also awarded the NUS Outstanding Young Alumni Award and the LexisNexis 40 Under 40, ALB Fintech Lawyer of the Year (2025), with him and his team being recognised as the Blockchain In-house Legal Team of the Year (2025), and finalists for 3 categories of the ALB Southeast Asia Law Awards (2023,2024,2025) and the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Asia Pacific (2024,2025).
Since his time as co-founder and Chief Legal Officer in Xfers, he has grown Xfers from a 3-person start-up to a regional company to now more than 400 people in the merger to form Fazz Financial Group. Today, he leads group legal & regulatory matters, across financial regulations, financial crime & compliance, AML/CFT, and strategic commercial deals. Additionally, Samson engages with MAS on the regulatory framework and changes for the Payment Services Act, most recently for the upcoming MAS regulated-stablecoin framework, for which 3 subsidiaries under the StraitsX brand have received MAS Major Payment Institution licences.
Samson’s external partners and stakeholders welcome his “collaborative mindset” and his ability to “construct workable solutions in challenging situations” and “successfully [lead] complex contract negotiations that involve the management and alignment of interests from multiple stakeholders”. Samson has shown his “tenacity in dealing with legal, regulatory and financial-related challenges” and a “remarkable ability to manage legal and regulatory risks”.
Venture Fundraising - He successfully led and negotiated the group’s recent 2022 Series C fundraising of USD 75m from notable investors like Tiger Global, DST Investment, B Capital, Insignia as well as new investors EDBI and Intervest. This raise was at double the previous valuation, despite the valuations of other tech companies crashing more than half. Previously, he had also successfully closed the group’s June 2020 Series B fundraising of USD 53m against the odds in the depth of the COVID lock downs.
Licensing / Regulatory - Under his leadership, three subsidiaries under the StraitsX brand has obtained MAS Major Payment Institution licences in July 2024 for its stablecoin issuance activities and crypto/digital payment token activities. Earlier in 2020, Xfers became licensed by MAS as a Major Payment Institution under the Payment Services Act. Under this regime, Xfers launched the first regulated Singapore-dollar denominated “stablecoin” - the “XSGD”, offering consumer protections under the Payment Services Act and the technological edge of blockchain-based payments. Prior to the Payment Services Act, he led a cross-departmental working group which successfully obtained MAS approval in 2019 for Xfers to become a widely accepted stored value facility, one of only six in Singapore. External partners have remarked that it was a “highly ambitious goal given that Xfers was a start-up, the need to partner a bank and MAS’ scrutiny in processing Xfers’ application”.
Compliance - Samson’s compliance leadership was also recognised with nine police awards to date. The Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. K. Shanmugam, awarded Xfers with the National Day Award 2021, saying “Through your contributions, you have distinguished yourself by displaying outstanding dedication and competency in your area of work.” This consistent and continued collaboration with the Singapore Police Force in fighting cyberscams and frauds has been recognised across these nine police awards beginning from 2018:Singapore Police Force Outstanding Community Partnership Award (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021); Singapore Police Force APPACT Partnership Award (2023, 2022);Singapore Police Force Commendation Award (2020, 2018).
Thought Leadership - In the area of fintech, Samson has been invited to speak at workshops and events such as the SCCA Legal Congress 2025, ACAMS Assembly 2024, ABS Financial Crime Roundtable 2024, ASEAN Senior Officials Roundtable on Cybercrime 2023, Digital Assets Asia 2023, IIC Asia Telecommunications & Media Forum 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (OPDAT) FinTech Sector Partnership Dialogue 2020, the “Seminar on Payment Services Act” organised by the Law Society of Singapore in 2019 and the ASEAN Regulatory Summit 2018.
Community - Outside of Fazz, Samson has been awarded a Special Volunteer Award by the Ministry of Law for his work as an Assessor under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act to resolve disputes between borrowers and financial institutions. He is an active mentor in the NUS Law Alumni Mentorship Programme, and also volunteers in the executive committee of the Jalan Besar Community Centre Management Committee.
Prior to co-founding Xfers, Samson was a corporate lawyer in a Singapore “Big-Four” law firm, WongPartnership LLP, where he worked on capital markets and financial regulatory matters. He graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Laws and was called to the Singapore Bar in 2012.
Under Samson’s leadership, Fazz (StraitsX, formerly Xfers) has been recognised by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and has also received 9 police awards to date for continued efforts in fighting cybercrime. Samson was also awarded the NUS Outstanding Young Alumni Award and the LexisNexis 40 Under 40, ALB Fintech Lawyer of the Year (2025), with him and his team being recognised as the Blockchain In-house Legal Team of the Year (2025), and finalists for 3 categories of the ALB Southeast Asia Law Awards (2023,2024,2025) and the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Asia Pacific (2024,2025).
Since his time as co-founder and Chief Legal Officer in Xfers, he has grown Xfers from a 3-person start-up to a regional company to now more than 400 people in the merger to form Fazz Financial Group. Today, he leads group legal & regulatory matters, across financial regulations, financial crime & compliance, AML/CFT, and strategic commercial deals. Additionally, Samson engages with MAS on the regulatory framework and changes for the Payment Services Act, most recently for the upcoming MAS regulated-stablecoin framework, for which 3 subsidiaries under the StraitsX brand have received MAS Major Payment Institution licences.
Samson’s external partners and stakeholders welcome his “collaborative mindset” and his ability to “construct workable solutions in challenging situations” and “successfully [lead] complex contract negotiations that involve the management and alignment of interests from multiple stakeholders”. Samson has shown his “tenacity in dealing with legal, regulatory and financial-related challenges” and a “remarkable ability to manage legal and regulatory risks”.
Venture Fundraising - He successfully led and negotiated the group’s recent 2022 Series C fundraising of USD 75m from notable investors like Tiger Global, DST Investment, B Capital, Insignia as well as new investors EDBI and Intervest. This raise was at double the previous valuation, despite the valuations of other tech companies crashing more than half. Previously, he had also successfully closed the group’s June 2020 Series B fundraising of USD 53m against the odds in the depth of the COVID lock downs.
Licensing / Regulatory - Under his leadership, three subsidiaries under the StraitsX brand has obtained MAS Major Payment Institution licences in July 2024 for its stablecoin issuance activities and crypto/digital payment token activities. Earlier in 2020, Xfers became licensed by MAS as a Major Payment Institution under the Payment Services Act. Under this regime, Xfers launched the first regulated Singapore-dollar denominated “stablecoin” - the “XSGD”, offering consumer protections under the Payment Services Act and the technological edge of blockchain-based payments. Prior to the Payment Services Act, he led a cross-departmental working group which successfully obtained MAS approval in 2019 for Xfers to become a widely accepted stored value facility, one of only six in Singapore. External partners have remarked that it was a “highly ambitious goal given that Xfers was a start-up, the need to partner a bank and MAS’ scrutiny in processing Xfers’ application”.
Compliance - Samson’s compliance leadership was also recognised with nine police awards to date. The Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. K. Shanmugam, awarded Xfers with the National Day Award 2021, saying “Through your contributions, you have distinguished yourself by displaying outstanding dedication and competency in your area of work.” This consistent and continued collaboration with the Singapore Police Force in fighting cyberscams and frauds has been recognised across these nine police awards beginning from 2018:Singapore Police Force Outstanding Community Partnership Award (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021); Singapore Police Force APPACT Partnership Award (2023, 2022);Singapore Police Force Commendation Award (2020, 2018).
Thought Leadership - In the area of fintech, Samson has been invited to speak at workshops and events such as the SCCA Legal Congress 2025, ACAMS Assembly 2024, ABS Financial Crime Roundtable 2024, ASEAN Senior Officials Roundtable on Cybercrime 2023, Digital Assets Asia 2023, IIC Asia Telecommunications & Media Forum 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (OPDAT) FinTech Sector Partnership Dialogue 2020, the “Seminar on Payment Services Act” organised by the Law Society of Singapore in 2019 and the ASEAN Regulatory Summit 2018.
Community - Outside of Fazz, Samson has been awarded a Special Volunteer Award by the Ministry of Law for his work as an Assessor under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act to resolve disputes between borrowers and financial institutions. He is an active mentor in the NUS Law Alumni Mentorship Programme, and also volunteers in the executive committee of the Jalan Besar Community Centre Management Committee.
Prior to co-founding Xfers, Samson was a corporate lawyer in a Singapore “Big-Four” law firm, WongPartnership LLP, where he worked on capital markets and financial regulatory matters. He graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Laws and was called to the Singapore Bar in 2012.
Speaking At
