Event information
The Legal 500 is delighted to formally announce the 2022 GC Summit: Malaysia. Taking place on 24 November 2022 at the beautiful Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur, this event is particularly exciting as it is the first in-person event we have done in the country since 2019, and promises to be our best yet.
In association with our partners for this event, Donovan & Ho, Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill, Mohanadass Partnership, Trowers & Hamlins and Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership, we are thrilled to present to you this schedule of sessions. Among other topics, we will cover the management of international disputes, navigating legal and tax concerns in post-pandemic M&A transactions, sustainable investments, managing data in the information age and the changing Malaysian employment law landscape.
The GC Summit Malaysia invites the most esteemed in-house counsel from the country’s most prolific companies to discuss their changing roles as in-house leaders, as well as the challenges, issues and opportunities they are facing. Between comprehensive panel discussions and the opportunity to meet and engage with fellow in-house counsel, the GC Summit Malaysia promises to be a practical, forward-looking event bringing together the region’s top legal minds.
Agenda
13:00 – 13:30: Arrival & Registration
13:30 – 13:35: Opening remarks
- Ina Anzalna Shamsuddin, general counsel, Malaysia Airlines
13.35 – 14.25: Pre Emptive Strikes in Dispute Resolution
- Mohanadass Kanagasabai, managing partner, Mohanadass Partnership
- Shalinee Fernandez, senior legal counsel for global operations, Ansell
- Michael Yap, partner, Tommy Thomas
- Jonathan Gerard, barrister, Ken St. James
- Navrita Kaur, chief legal officer, Microlink
14:25 – 15:15: Navigating the legal & tax concerns in post-pandemic M&A transactions
- S Saravana Kumar, partner, Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership
- Ooi Bee Hong, partner, Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership
- Ida Suryati Ab. Rahim, group general counsel, IHH Healthcare
- Faith Wong, senior legal manager, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad
15:15 – 15:30 Coffee Break
15:30 – 16:20: Investing in Sustainability
- Abdulhaq Mohammed, Partner, Trowers & Hamlins
- David Chiam Joy Yeow, Group head of governance and compliance, QSR Brands (M) Holdings
-
Dalvin Kaur, regional head of legal for Maybank
- Michele Kythe Lim, President & CEO, Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia
16:20 – 17:10: Managing Data in a Data Driven Era
- Teo Wai Sum, partner, Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill
- Chng Keng Lung, partner, Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill
- Jeff Ong, head of legal and compliance, Tricor Malaysia
- Su Puay Leng, head of legal, Maxis Berhad Group
17:10 – 17.40 Fireside Chat: An insight into Malaysia’s changing employment law landscape
- Donovan Cheah, partner, Donovan & Ho
- Shawn Ho, partner, Donovan & Ho
17:45 – 18.00 Closing GC Remarks
18.00 – 19.00 Drinks and canapes
19:00 Event concludes
Speakers
S Saravana Kumar, partner, Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership
Saravana is the Head of the Firm’s Tax, SST & Customs and has appeared in benchmark litigations with a sizeable volume of wins in tax disputes. Saravana has been recognized as one of the leading lawyers by Asialaw Profiles 2019 and has been named one of the 40 leading lawyers under 40 in Asia by Asian Legal Business.
He is an Adjunct Professor with Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) and chairs the Taxation Section of LAWASIA.
Abdulhaq Mohammed, partner, Trowers & Hamlins
Abdul-Haq is an Infrastructure and Real Estate Partner at Trowers & Hamlins and specialises in PPP and concession arrangements relating to urban and transport-related development, real estate development and investment, and strategic legal advice.
He has held several senior management positions within the Firm, including sitting on the Management Board for six years from 2015, as well as being the Firm’s International Managing Partner until August 2021. He also sits on the Board of Governors of St. Christopher’s School. He is regularly consulted by clients on matters of strategic importance.
Donovan Cheah, partner, Donovan & Ho
Donovan leads Donovan & Ho’s employment law and dispute resolution practice. His work in the profession has been recognised by publications such as the Legal 500, Chambers & Partners, Asialaw and Benchmark Litigation. The Legal 500 Asia Pacific has named him as a recommended lawyer for labour and employment in their last six editions, where he is described as “understanding, efficient and direct“ and “the name to note“.
Donovan assists corporate clients on various employment law issues, including drafting of employment contracts and handbooks, advising on workforce reductions, termination of employees and compliance issues, and representing them in employment litigation such as unfair dismissal claims and judicial review proceedings involving the decisions of the Industrial Court or the Minister of Human Resources. Donovan has extensive experience in dispute resolution and has represented international corporations in a wide range of matters, including commercial and civil litigation, international arbitrations, intellectual property disputes and construction adjudication.
Mohanadass Kanagasabai, managing partner, Mohanadass Partnership
Mohanadass Kanagasabai has two decades of dispute resolution experience having appeared as counsel in numerous disputes at all levels of the High Court of Malaya and in domestic and international arbitration. He has also been granted special ad-hoc admission to appear at the High Court of Borneo as counsel in arbitration related matters.
He is rated by the Asia Pacific Legal 500 as a leading individual for dispute resolution in Malaysia, and also recognised for his expertise in Band 1 for Dispute Resolution (Construction) by Chambers and Partners. Described as an “arbitration specialist” with a “giant reputation”, Mohan is a former President of the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators and former Chair of the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Committee of the Inter Pacific Bar Association.
Teo Wai Sum, partner, Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill
Teo Wai Sum has extensive experience in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, as well as corporate and commercial advisory work. Wai Sum has advised international clientele on legal and regulatory issues in the IT and digital space. She also advises on all aspects of the Personal Data Protection Act 2010. Wai Sum is recognised by asialaw Profiles 2022 as a Notable Practitioner.
Chng Keng Lung, partner, Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill
Lung is a partner in the firm’s IP, Sports & Gaming practice group.
As a trademark and industrial design agent, Lung specialises in the full spectrum of intellectual property laws – both contentious and non-contentious matters. In contentious matters, Lung represents clients in various intellectual property disputes concerning patent, trademark, copyright and breach of confidence. As a litigator, Lung also has experience in corporate, commercial and securities disputes as well as international arbitration.
In non-contentious matters, Lung advises clients on intellectual property registration, portfolio and asset management, anti-counterfeiting programmes, brand protection and naming rights, digital contents, licensing and sponsorship of sports ventures, events broadcasting, market entry strategies, and regulatory requirements for the gaming industry.
Shawn Ho, partner, Donovan & Ho
Shawn was admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in 2006. From 2006 to 2010, he was an associate in the tax practice group of Wong & Partners, a member firm of Baker & McKenzie.
Shawn has represented his clients in corporate acquisitions, restructuring exercises, joint venture arrangements, shareholder agreements, employee share options and franchise businesses. He regularly advises Malaysian startup founders and has assisted venture capital funds in Seed, Series A & B funding rounds. Shawn’s practice also extends to real-estate transactions and advising on real-estate related tax planning, including stamp duty, use of tax efficient investment structures for property investment, real property gains tax, goods and services tax and income tax in Malaysia.
Ooi Bee Hong, partner, Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership
Ooi Bee Hong leads the Corporate Department at Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership and frequently advises on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, commercial agreements, property development, company law, corporate restructuring, and real estate.
Bee Hong was admitted and enrolled as an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore and the High Court of Malaya 1987.
She has represented clients in a broad spectrum of corporate and commercial related transactions, with an emphasis on foreign direct investments in Malaysia. She has acted for a range of top-notch international clients, including Fortune 500 companies on their investments in Malaysia.
Jonathan Gerard, barrister, Ken St. James
Jonathan Gerard commenced practice under the guidance of then Partner, Mr. Ken St James (now Judicial Commissioner of the High Court). Jonathan’s primary practice area is Intellectual Property litigation (Copyright, Trademarks and Patents).
Joe Boswell, head of research: GC Powerlist Series, The Legal 500
Joe Boswell has been a part of The Legal 500’s editorial team, specialising on the in-house legal community, for more than six years. He now heads the GC Powerlist team, acting as chief editor for the over 40 separate editions of the GC Powerlist series which serve as The Legal 500’s flagship title celebrating the world’s top in-house counsel.
During the course of researching for the GC Powerlist series, Boswell has interviewed a vast number of world-renowned general counsel, chief legal officers, and legal directors about overcoming the challenges they face, their legal innovations, and how they see the general counsel role progressing in coming years. As well as this, he is a regular speaker at Legal 500 summits, roundtables, award ceremonies and other events, and often writes in-depth reports on business and legal issues.
Boswell is an alumnus of both the University of Sussex in The United Kingdom and the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in The Netherlands.
Shalinee Fernandez, senior legal counsel for global operations, Ansell
A dedicated, experienced and well-regarded corporate counsel, Shalinee Fernandez has experience across a number of prominent companies in a diverse range of industry sectors. After leaving a private practice position where she was a partner in a Kuala Lumpur-based firm, Fernandez took her first in-house role as legal manager of enforcements at the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. Further in-house positions in Malaysia with BlueScope Steel (legal counsel Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei) and Atos (legal counsel Asia-Pacific) followed before Fernandez moved to Australia to launch the Indian ride-hailing platform Ola. Her most senior role sees Fernandez take on global operations responsibilities for Ansell, where she is also an associate director. Here, she oversees Ansell’s manufacturing operations across Asia Pacific, the global supply chain and is notably involved in the company’s myriad sustainability projects also.
David Chiam Joy Yeow, Group head of governance and compliance, QSR Brands (M) Holdings
David has over 20 years of experience in the legal and governance sectors. Having begun his legal career in 2 reputable law firms in Malaysia specializing in intellectual property and brand protection law, he then undertook a 5-year government stint, handling a wide range of legal, administrative and policy matters for the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports and subsequently, the Ministry of Tourism. Having left government service, David returned to the corporate sector by joining British American Tobacco Malaysia Berhad in 2010 as its Senior Legal Counsel and was subsequently promoted as Head of Legal and Secretarial Services in 2015.
In June 2017, David assumed the role as Legal Director and Company Secretary at DFI Malaysia. In late 2018, David added the role as Legal Director for the DFI Singapore businesses. In October 2020, David was promoted as Legal Director – South East Asia, covering and leading the Dairy Farm Group legal and government affairs teams across Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia.
In May 2022, David was recruited by QSR Brands (M) Holdings Berhad, the franchise holders of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Cambodia as its Group Head of Governance and Compliance. In this role, David oversees the Business Ecosystem functions of the Group, namely the Legal Advisory, Risk & Compliance, Sustainability, Integrity and Halal/Syariah Compliance Departments.
David was listed amongst the top 100 General Counsels in the 2018 GC PowerList South East Asia by Legal 500 and was a Board member of ASX listed company, Netccentric Ltd from 2017 to 2020.
David holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is also a licensed Company Secretary with the Companies Commission of Malaysia.
Dalvin Kaur, regional head of legal for Maybank
A member of the bank’s global leadership and strategy team and global financial & risk leadership team, Dalvin Kaur is the Head, Legal – Global Banking, Group Corporate & Legal Services and the Regional Head of Legal Maybank Investment Bank Group. She joined Maybank in 2013 as Regional Head Legal, MIBG, and has more than 24 years of experience in the legal industry, first qualifying in Albar & Partners, Malaysia. She then spent 14 years in London, in global law firms in Allen & Overy and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, primarily in Structured Finance, subsequently in-house investment banking advisory with Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, London, Director, Legal in Structured Credit Markets, Securitisation, Distressed Assets and Islamic Derivatives.
Upon her return to Asia, Kaur has successfully transformed the in-house legal function from a traditional in-house legal function to a team of business counsel, demonstrating value add and providing strategic, solution driven legal advice, across investment banking product areas including litigation.
Michele Kythe Lim, President & CEO, Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia
Michele works with boards, the director community, regulators, and other key stakeholders in the corporate governance ecosystem to enhance board and director effectiveness in Malaysia. She brings with her a wide spectrum of leadership and advisory experience, particularly on corporate governance-related matters.
Under her leadership, ICDM has embarked on a series of director development programmes, board advisory services, as well as research and advocacy projects to support the building and strengthening of the country’s corporate governance culture.
Prior to ICDM, Michele was Group Head, Corporate Secretarial and General Counsel with IHH Healthcare Berhad. She was also a member of a subsidiary board, as well as the Chief Sustainability Officer leading the sustainability reporting and practices for the Group.
Michele holds a LLB Hons degree from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK (1991) and is a Barrister-at-Law at Middle Temple, London, England. She completed the Senior Management Development Programme of Harvard Business School in 2009 and is also a Licensed Company Secretary.
Su Puay Leng, head of legal, Maxis Berhad Group
Su has led Maxis Group’s Legal team since 2015 and has over 20 years’ experience in legal and compliance. She was listed in the top 100 GC Powerlist, SEA in 2017 & 2019. Under her stewardship the Maxis Legal team received recognition in 2018 by Legal 500’s GC Powerlist – Southeast Asia Teams and further took home the Asian Legal Business’ Malaysia TMT In-House Team of the Year Award for two consecutive years, 2019 and 2020.
She is responsible for providing legal and strategic advice to senior management and the Board of Directors while leading her team to excel as business partners in providing pragmatic solutions in their legal advisory, setting up frameworks and playbooks to expedite go to market and operations. In 2021 the Legal team launched Maxis Group’s inaugural intellectual property policy and rolled out group wide awareness including on the value of innovation. Soon after Maxis historically filed a few international patent applications.
Su studied law at the International Islamic University of Malaysia and holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge, UK.
Jeff Ong, head of legal and compliance, Tricor Malaysia
Jeff has led the Legal & Compliance function of Tricor Malaysia since May 2021. Prior to joining Tricor, he practiced as a dispute resolution lawyer at Cheah Teh & Su and served as a regulatory compliance manager in HSBC Bank Malaysia.
He has driven strategic initiatives to substantially improve the turnaround time on contract management, established a robust compliance framework for Tricor group, and streamlined the AML processes on customer due diligence, among other key strategic initiatives.
Michael Yap, partner, Tommy Thomas
Michael has a keen interest in construction, land and probate disputes, and has vast experience in other forms of alternative dispute resolution, such as arbitration and adjudication under the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act, 2012 (“CIPAA Adjudication”).
In his early days of practice, Michael acted as junior Counsel in one of the largest bond disputes in Malaysia with a value exceeding RM290 million, brought by bondholders against the issuer, lead arranger, underwriter, trustee and professional advisors (including valuation, reporting and monitoring accountants). Michael also acted as junior in a complex commercial arbitration involving a textbook concession, with an amount in dispute exceeding RM118 million.
Navrita Kaur, chief legal officer, Microlink
Ina Anzalna Shamsuddin, general counsel, Malaysia Airlines
Ina Anzalna Shamsuddin spent the past 19 years serving Malaysia Airlines in various roles starting as the airline’s inhouse counsel. She was then promoted to lead the Group’s Policy and Risk Management Unit, and subsequently elected as the Vice President of Aircraft Trading, specialising in aircraft purchase and leasing agreements. While serving in that role, she was also assigned as the Legal Advisor to the Restructuring Management Office to oversee the setting-up of Malaysia Airlines Berhad as the new national carrier. She was then appointed as the General Counsel to head the Malaysia Aviation Group’s legal department, and has been in this role since.
Ida Suryati Ab. Rahim, group general counsel, IHH Healthcare
Ida Suryati is Group General Counsel & Company Secretary of IHH Healthcare Berhad, one of the world’s largest healthcare networks, with 82 hospitals in 10 countries. She holds this position since joining IHH in 2019 and leads the IHH Group’s legal and company secretarial functions located in Malaysia, Singapore, India, China and Hong Kong.
She obtained a Degree in Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from National University of Malaysia in 1996 and was admitted to the High Court of Malaya as an advocate and solicitor in 1997. She also obtained Master of Law (LLM)(Commercial) from University of Cambridge, United Kingdom in 2014 and Master of Law (LLM) from University of Malaya, Malaysia in 2005.
She brings with her more than 25 years of experience through various leadership and managerial positions she held in legal and company secretarial roles in agribusiness, oil and gas and fast moving consumer goods companies. She had also in the past served as Vice President, International Business and led the Sustainability & Environment Department and Group Governance Division of one of Malaysia’s largest oil palm plantation public listed company. As general counsel and company secretary of the companies that she served, she was involved in major projects, including initial public offers and listing, mergers and acquisitions, capital market and fund raising corporate exercise, corporate restructuring and financing, legal employment matters, dispute resolutions and management of corporate and commercial litigations in and outside Malaysia. She also advises on corporate governance related matters, corporate disclosures and compliance with the Malaysia stock exchange rules and regulations. She is currently the company secretary of the Board and all the Board Committees of IHH Healthcare Berhad.
Faith Wong, senior legal manager, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad
Faith has been serving as a legal counsel of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad for the past nine years. Faith‘s extensive experience is particularly in the pharmaceutical, plantation, manufacturing and property industries where she contributed in the areas of IP, M&A, corporate, operations, bond issuance, land, dispute resolution, compliance, capital markets and treasury.
Faith obtained LLB (Hons) from Bond University, Australia as a scholarship holder and further obtained LLM from University of New South Wales. The following year, she was called to the Legal Profession Admission Board of New South Wales as an advocate and solicitor. She has lived and studied in Australia for seven years, practicing in constitution law and administrative law in Sydney with specific focus on legal issues arising from migrants and refugees in Australia.
Upon her return to Malaysia, Faith joined the in-house legal world and has never look back since. Her eight years with a pharmaceutical company, saw her rise to the rank of head of legal, before she made a bold career move to join Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad.
In association with...
Donovan & Ho was founded on 3 June 2014. We have since expanded our office, multiplied our headcount, and have served more than 1,000 clients from over 20 countries. The firm was founded with the goal of re-energising the practice of law by providing legal solutions that are usable and easy to understand. Our commitment is to communicate clearly – no legal jargon, just simple, effective advice. The demands of the modern world mean more work and less time, and unlike traditional law firms we acknowledge the need to constantly innovate. We have adopted state of the art technology in document management and project management. We know that if we work faster and more efficiently, our clients benefit.
Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill is one of the largest law firms in Malaysia. We act for local and international clients and are divided into area-specific practice groups, with more than 90 lawyers, offering legal advice and services across all areas of law.
As the only firm selected as a member of Multilaw and Interlaw in Malaysia, we are able to offer a global perspective and provide a one-stop-shop service on multi-jurisdictional matters.
We are also consistently ranked as one of the leading law firms in Malaysia by legal directories such as Chambers Asia Pacific, Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Asialaw Profiles and IFLR1000.
We strive to deliver effective solutions as we have the resources, commitment and capability to tend to our clients’ legal issues and rights.
Practice Areas
We are divided into seven practice areas, comprising 23 practice groups, each headed by an experienced partner, enabling us to offer a market-leading depth of expertise. As a full-service law firm, we are able to pool expertise and provide a seamless level of service on all aspects of the matter at hand.
Driven by a passion for the law and drawing on extensive legal experience, the lawyers at Mohanadass Partnership provide unrivalled expertise to clients across a broad spectrum of industries. Its partners are well versed with international and domestic dispute resolution, with combined skills that compare favourably to any leading regional firm. In addition to dispute resolution and transactional matters, the partners in this practice are adept at handling legal affairs in all key practice areas.
Founded on core values of integrity and innovation, Mohanadass Partnership believes in delivering sound tactical solutions to safeguard clients’ interests no matter the organizational size, trade or locale. The firm is distinguished by its proactive, progressive approach in legal matters, offering professional services of the highest calibre and is consistently ranked as a ‘leading firm’ in The Legal 500’s Asia Pacific guide.
Trowers & Hamlins is an international law firm with offices located across the UK, Middle East and Asia.
We were proud to have been granted Malaysia’s first qualified foreign law firm licence in 2015, after many years of advising Malaysian clients on cross-border transactions through our international network.
Today, our Kuala Lumpur office is home to a growing team of Malaysian and international lawyers, working across a number of practice areas. We support Malaysian and ASEAN clients effectively to execute international cross-border investment, M&A and financing transactions across a range of sectors including real estate, hospitality, oil and gas, energy and infrastructure, utilising either conventional or Shari’ah compliant structures.
Our clients include government and government-linked companies and institutions, commercial and investment banks, family-owned and widely-held conglomerates, pension funds, energy companies, and high net worth individuals. We have garnered a significant reputation for advising in the field of Islamic finance and a significant part of our work involves helping businesses, families and institutions participate in global investment opportunities on a Shari’ah compliant basis. Our work also often involves the structuring and development of projects for clients entering new markets and which are often first-in-country. Where clients find themselves facing difficulties, our international dispute resolution team is on hand to help find a resolution.
Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership (RDS) is an award winning, full-service commercial law firm with diverse experience among the firm’s partners, who are consistently ranked as leading lawyers in Malaysia by notable legal rankers including Chambers Asia-Pacific, Legal 500, Benchmark Litigation and Asian Legal Business. RDS is part of the SCG Legal, a network of leading international law firms consisting of 12000 lawyers in over 60 countries.