Event Report

In March of this year, The Legal 500 was delighted to host the inaugural GC Summit: Malaysia, in partnership with Lee, Hishammudin, Allen & Gledhill and Mohanadass Partnership at the Le Méridien Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Drawing in the country’s most senior in-house counsel, the summit offered a practical, on-the-ground perspective on the challenges, issues and opportunities faced by general counsel in the region.

Kicking off with a welcome address by Dato’ Nitin Nadkarni, the Chairman of the Partners Committee at Lee, Hishammudin Allen & Gledhill, the core of the day’s events began: three in-depth panel discussions, hosted and populated by Malaysia’s foremost experts.

The first, Recent Experience in Manoeuvring Corporate and Tax Intricacies in Malaysian M&A, saw LHAG’s Ooi Bee Hong moderate as a selection of LHAG partners and in-house counsel walked the audience through the latest developments in Malaysian M & A, including the questions in-house lawyers should ask their external advisors and how best to manage the process internally. Participating in the panel were Saravana Kumar Segaran, Partner at LHAG; Raphael Tay Choon Tien, Partner at LHAG; David Chaim, Legal Director at The Dairy Farm Group; and Izhar Ismail, Head of Legal at TNB.

The second panel was hosted by Mohanadass Partnership, with the eponymous managing director Mohanadass Kanagasabai moderating the discussion. Discussing the topic of Administering Arbitrations: Key User Issues, he was joined by representatives from two different arbitration centres: Kevin Nash, Deputy Registrar and Centre Director at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, and Ilia Putilin, Deputy Head of Legal Services at the Asian International Arbitration Centre. The panel was rounded off with the presence of two highly senior in-house counsel: Flavio Porro, Group General Counsel of KNM Group; and Su Puay Leng, Head of Legal for Maxis. Again a practical session, the panel diagnosed the issues at the core of embarking upon an arbitration, and how in-house counsel can best use arbitration centres – and in what circumstances.

Finally, LHAG again hosted the day’s last panel discussion on Managing the Exploitation of Confidential and Business Information by Employees. Moderated by Diana Rahman, Case Counsel at the Asian International Arbitration Centre, she was joined by LHAG partners Bahari Yeow Tien Hong and Shariffullah Bin Abdul Majeed, together with Ashley Tan, Legal Counsel SE Asia at Orange Business Services; and Leah Samson-David, Senior Counsel for Malaysia at Phillip Morris. From tactics of prevention to avenues of redress, the panel covered all facets of information protection, with an emphasis on practical, useable advice for in-house counsel.

Following the content-driven portion of the evening, attendees were invited to network with their fellow in-house counsel in Le Méridien’s unique events space amongst stunning views, drinks and canapes.

The Legal 500 would like to thank its partners for this event, Lee, Hishammudin, Allen & Gledhill and Mohanadass Partnership for their support.