Nearly 170 in-house practitioners from Malaysia’s largest corporations attended Asian Legal Business’ first Malaysia In-House Legal Summit, which was held at the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 27.
The informative, full-day event offered in-house counsel insights into the most pressing regulatory and legal developments in Malaysia across a variety of topics and practice areas, including anti-corruption regulations, Islamic finance, IT, competition law, tax law, capital markets and M&A.
The presenters included leading legal, finance and compliance experts. The event kicked off with a opening address by Federal Court Justice Datuk Zainun binti Ali, and this was followed by a welcome address by Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim bin Mohamed on Malaysia`s efforts in combating corruption and the role of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as the prime enforcement agency.
Two partners from law firm Olswang followed after them, with Azlinda Ariffin-Boromand discussing the raising of capital in global financial markets, and Ian Ferguson speaking about the benefits, challenges and risks related to cloud computing. Malaysian law firm Raja, Darryl & Loh then took the stage; partner Vijey R. Mohana Krishnan spoke about effectively handling income tax in Malaysia, and partner Chew Phye Keat discussed compliance with regulatory competition law.
On the other side of the networking lunch, Zainal Azam Abdul Rahman, head of sharia and legal studies at the Global University of Islamic Finance (INCEIF) spoke about the regional differences in Islamic law interpretation and Islamic finance. He was followed by Dean Ward of Thomson Reuters Governance, Risk and Compliance, who discussed enhanced due diligence (EDD) for cross-border M&A.
The summit concluded with a panel discussion titled “Managing legal, compliance and corporate responsibilities in a challenging global marketplace: The role of the In-House Counsel in Malaysia.” Moderated by ALB Editor Ranajit Dam, the panelists were Mohd Shah Hashim, former Executive Director, Legal of Nestlé Malaysia; Lily Rozita Mohd Khairi, Head of Legal, Shell Malaysia and Managing Counsel, Shell Downstream, Gas and Power; Thavakumar Kandiahpillai, VP, Legal Affairs, President and Group CEO’s Office, SapuraKencana Petroleum, and President, Malaysian Corporate Counsel Association; and Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, General Counsel and Company Secretary, Maybank.
“I would like to thank our speakers, panelists and moderators for sharing their expertise and conducting excellent and interactive discussions today,” said ALB Managing Director Andrew Smart at the conclusion of the summit. “It was a great opportunity for us to get updated on Malaysia’s complex legal and finance environment, and hear from key government and private sector stakeholders.”
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