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Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP organised a client seminar titled "The Financial Services Client Reference Check System – To Say or not to Say" on 30 June 2015. For the first time since the implementation of the financial services industry standardised reference check system on 2 October 2006 ("Industry Reference Check System") and the Representative Notification Framework on 26 November 2010, the Singapore High Court had the chance in the case of Ramesh s/o Krishnan v AXA Life Insurance Singapore Pte Ltd [2015] SGHC 125 to consider the scope of the written authorisation in the standard reference check form, which is used consistently by all prospective financial institution ("FI") employers obligated to conduct reference checks under the Industry Reference Check System on persons applying for jobs to conduct regulated activities. In particular, the High Court made certain pertinent observations on the issue of consent in the context of the Industry Reference Check System which would be of keen interest to FIs.
In this seminar, K. Muralidharan Pillai, the Head of the firm's Commercial Litigation Practice, together with Luo Qinghui, discussed the AXA Life Insurance case in which they successfully acted for the Defendant FI in having all the Plaintiff's claims of defamation, malicious falsehood and negligence dismissed. They also shared some practical pointers on how FIs should now make, and respond to, reference check requests under the Industry Reference Check System, following on from the Court's observations. Back to Top Print
The Japan Desk of the firm recently organised two seminars for its existing clients and potential clients. On 26 June 2015, it conducted a talk on "Construction Due Diligence", with Soh Lip San and Sim Chee Siong from the Construction and Projects Practice giving an overview of the Security of Payment Act and recent developments in relation to the law. Lip San, Chee Siong, together with Miyoko Ueno and Shuhei Otsuka from the Japan Desk discussed the practical implications of the legislation to Japanese companies.
On 28 May 2015, it conducted a session on "The New Vietnamese Investment and Company Laws and Its Implications on Establishment, Licensing and M&A". Yasumasa Sakamoto, Thuy Hoang, Thang Nguyen and Logan Leung from Rajah & Tann LCT Lawyers made a presentation on the new Vietnamese laws and discussed their implications on Japanese companies. Back to Top Print
Rajah & Tann LCT Lawyers, in collaboration with Grant Thornton, conducted a seminar on "Key Amendments to the Law on Enterprises and Law on Investment, and Key Accounting and Tax Pointers for M&A in Vietnam" on 11 June 2015. Yasumasa Sakamoto, Quang Chau, Thuy Hoang and Thang Nguyen discussed the key features of the new Law on Investment and Law on Enterprises, while Grant Thornton focused on accounting and tax advice for better facilitation of M&A transactions.
Grant Thornton is one of the world's leading independent audit, tax and advisory firms. Rajah & Tann LCT Lawyers maintains a strong ongoing relationship with Grant Thornton in Vietnam. Back to Top Print
The upcoming AEC and the commitment by ASEAN Countries to have competition policies in place by the end of 2015 have triggered significant changes in the ASEAN Competition landscape. Independently, there have also been numerous developments and maturing of the competition landscape across the region. In the conference titled "AEC & ASEAN Competition laws – Status, Regulator Activity and Red Flag" held on 21 May 2015, the speakers discussed and shared their views on the impact of Competition Laws on businesses in ASEAN and what should businesses be expecting for the near future taking into account the heightened enforcement, the new competition laws that have been adopted, the amendments that more mature jurisdictions are considering to their laws, the cooperation between regulators and the increased sophistication of competition regimes.
Mr Lee Cheow Han, the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Enforcement) at the Competition Commission of Singapore, was the distinguished speaker. The following partners from Rajah & Tann were speakers:
- Francis Xavier, SC, Kala Anandarajah, PBM, Dominique Lombardi, Tanya Tang, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
- Yon See Ting, Kuok Yew Chen, Christopher & Lee Ong
- Melisa Uremovic, Supawat Srirungruang, Rajah & Tann (Thailand) Limited
- HMBC Rikrik Rizkiyana, Yogi Sudrajat Marsono, Anastasia Pritahayu R.D., Assegaf Hamzah & Partners
- Chester Toh, Rajah & Tann NK Legal Myanmar
The Conference was organised by Rajah & Tann Asia, in collaboration with Thomson Reuters.
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Assegaf Hamzah & Partners and Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP organised a seminar titled "Recent Developments in Indonesia Financing" on 8 May 2015, where there was much discussion on requirements regarding use of Rupiah. Ibrahim Assegaf shared updates and real life case studies arising from Bank Indonesia's ("BI") recent clarifications and publications. He discussed BI's rationale as well as likely impact such measures would have on conducting business and offshore lending in Indonesia, as well as exceptions and existing ambiguities. In addition, he also touched on the recent requirement by the Indonesia Trade Ministry for letters of credit for Indonesian commodity exporters and rationale again for the imposition of such requirement.
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Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, in collaboration with Littler Mendelson, organised a breakfast seminar titled "Burning Issues in Employment – Lessons from the US" on 5 May 2015.
Employment laws continue to evolve in Singapore, with an equilibrium seemingly reached. Yet, employers continue to trip up as enforcement is stepped up in areas such as salary payments, including for overtime and rest days, discrimination in employment, employee / independent contractor classification, CPF contributions, and union related issues. These issues are not unique to Singapore, and corporations operating in the US face similar issues. Yet, there are nuances which differ and corporations that operate across different jurisdictions could find themselves tripping up over simple employee issues.
This breakfast seminar provided insights into these hot issues as they occur in the US, highlighting how Singapore and other Asian-based companies can find themselves in violation of US laws, just given the reach of the laws, whilst concurrently being in violation in Singapore as well. The seminar also provided guidance on what employers can do to avoid finding themselves in hot soup and just ensure an overall effective employment environment.
The seminar was presented by Kala Anandarajah, PBM from the firm's Employment & Benefits Practice, and Trent Sutton from Littler Mendelson.
Littler Mendelson is the largest global employment and labour law practice with more than 1,000 attorneys in over 60 offices worldwide. Back to Top Print
Lawyers of Rajah & Tann Asia participated at the following seminars:
- Can Hong Kong Learn from Singapore's Experience in Corporate Insolvency Law Reform?, Hong Kong, 30 June 2015
Session:
- Global Technology Law Conference 2015 – The Future of Money and Data, 29-30 June 2015
Sessions:
- Regulatory Challenges of Electronic Money and Electronic Payment (Panellist: Larry Lim)
- Practical Legal Challenges with Electronic and Mobile Payment Solutions (Panellist: Rajesh Sreenivasan)
- Employment Law & Compliance Asia Congress 2015, 23-24 June 2015
Session:
- Myanmar Decoded: Employment Legal Framework in Myanmar (Speaker: Chester Toh)
- Global Tax Optimisation for Shipping 2015, 15-16 June 2015
Session:
- Myanmar Legal, Tax & Business Insights, 28 May 2015
Session:
- Mergers & Acquisitions, Partnerships and Joint Ventures with Local Companies in Myanmar (Speaker: Chester Toh)
- Litigation and Arbitration in Shipping and the Scope of Ship Arrests in the U.A. E., Dubai, 27 May 2015
Session:
- Pre-Award Reliefs in Arbitration (Speaker: V Bala)
- Evolution of e-Marketplaces Convention 2015, 22 May 2015
Session:
- Law Governing Jurisdictional Issues in e-Commerce (Speaker: Jonathan Yuen)
- ASEAN Conference 2015: Growth Opportunities in an Integrated ASEAN, 20 May 2015
Session:
- Data Transfers and Data Breaches: Mitigating the Risk of Data Breaches and Non-Compliance with Regulatory Mandates, 14 May 2015 (Speakers: Lionel Tan, Benjamin Cheong)
- Competition Law Developments in the Investment Banking Arena - Issues in ASEAN, Kuala Lumpur, 13 May 2015 (Speakers: Kala Anandarajah, PBM, Yong See Ting)
- Professional Misconduct & Ethical Responsibilities of a Nurse, 13 May 2015 (Speaker: Rebecca Chew)
- The 11th Annual China Hotel Investment Conference 2015, Shanghai, 12-14 May 2015
Session:
- China on the Move: Chinese Investors Eye Global Hotel Markets (Speaker: Chia Kim Huat)
- The 2015 Labour and Employment Hot Topics for Asia and U.S. Employers, Hong Kong, 11 May 2015
Session:
- Labour and Employment Hot Topics for Asia and U.S. Employers: Singapore (Speaker: Tracy Ang)
- Medicine, Doctors & the Law, 11 May 2015
Session:
- Statutes Regulating Doctors and Medicine (Speaker: Rebecca Chew)
- IPBA 25th Annual Meeting and Conference, Hong Kong, 6-9 May 2015
Sessions:
- Orientation to Japanese Newcomers to Singapore, 8 May 2015
Session:
- The Singapore Criminal System – What You Need to Watch Out For (Speaker: Shuhei Otsuka)
- Labour and Employment Trends Around the Region in 180 Minutes, Hong Kong, 6 May 2015
Session:
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