Editorial: Corporate Governance in Singapore
01 October 2007
Although Singapore is not as stringently regulated a business environment as many countries, such as the United States, for example, corporate clients still need to call on external counsel for governance advice, both during transactions and generally during their everyday business. It is not really possible to specialise in this field to the exclusion of all others, and as such all the individuals in this section also appear in other chapters of the book, but the seven lawyers we feature in the following pages are proven experts and able to offer high-quality guidance to boards and directors.
Allen & Gledhill LLP is a “very famous corporate firm”, that advises private and public companies on legal and regulatory compliance, and administration issues. The firm also counsels foreign companies looking to set up businesses in Singapore. Lucien Wong is managing partner of the firm and he “commands a very sound reputation in this area”. One of only four elite practitioners to appear in four chapters in this book, his expertise in this area is underlined by his membership of the Council on Corporate Disclosure and Governance, which is responsible for setting the accounting and corporate governance standards in Singapore. Christina Ong is the second featured lawyer from the firm. The head of financial services there, she is “very highly regarded” by her peers, and is particularly well known for her advice to listed clients.
Rajah & Tann, another of Singapore’s leading corporate law firms, is unsurprisingly represented here, by Kala Anandarajah. “Highly active and very good”, she is especially well known for her writing on this subject and was the author of the first book on corporate governance relating to Singapore. She advises a number of companies in this area, including China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Limited, and was also a member of the Review Committee established by the Council of Corporate Disclosure and Governance that reviewed and issued a revised Singapore Code of Corporate Governance. In addition, she is also the chairperson of The Law Society of Singapore’s corporate practice committee, a member of the governing council of the Singapore Institute of Directors and “an acknowledged authority in the field”.
Like the aforementioned Lucien Wong, Lee Suet-Fern of Stamford Law Corporation also appears in four chapters. A “high-profile corporate lawyer”, she is well known for her transactional and banking work, as well as for her publications and presented papers on the area of corporate governance and directors’ duties.
Arfat Selvam is managing director of Arfat Selvam Alliance LLC and “one of the leading individuals in the country” for this type of work. She is known for her work as a member of the Company Law Reform Committee, which made major recommendations affecting the companies and securities laws in Singapore, as well as for her role as president of The Law Society of Singapore and for her work on the board of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. Her governance advice relating to transactions also attracted praise.
The managing partner of WongPartnership, Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, also comes highly recommended for his advisory work for boards of publicly listed companies. Well known for his transactional expertise – he also appears in the M&A chapter – his compliance advice in this area was widely recognised as “first-class”. Another expert to feature in both the M&A and corporate governance chapters is Chang See Hiang of Chang See Hiang & Partners. A “superb lawyer”, he was commended for his “in-depth and practical advice to clients”.