About

Over the last three years, the quickly evolving and dynamic digital space has been among the most affected by international regulations. The impact of regulation on the sector has, however, been particularly strong in the Asia Pacific region, where a number of countries have adopted protectionist measures to support local businesses and boost their tax revenues. For GCs in the digital industries, the situation has demanded a well-considered response. Darrell Chan, head of legal at Expedia Asia says: ‘We have had to quickly develop public policy capabilities in order to engage with the regulators, and assuage the concerns that the regulators may have. We have successfully convinced governmental authorities to consider or adopt alternative approaches, either through soft law or by allowing self-regulation, rather than using heavy-handed and overreaching legislation’. Chan joined Expedia Asia in 2014. At the time he was the travel booking company’s only lawyer in the region and had to create structures and processes for its regional operations. He has since built up a legal team for both Expedia and AirAsiaGo. Chan is responsible for various aspects of the company including commercial and operational functions, corporate strategy and business development, regulatory and compliance, as well as company secretarial and corporate governance. He also serves on the Expedia Asia management team and acts as the company’s secretary. Prior to joining Expedia, Chan was senior legal counsel at the Southeast Asia division of global chemicals company BASF, where he oversaw a number of high-impact projects including the negotiation of a joint-venture with a state-owned Chinese oil and gas company to build a world-scale chemical plant in China. However, his roots in digital marketing can be traced back to his time at the Singapore-listed fashion retail and distribution group, F J Benjamin, which he joined in 2005. After an 18 month spell managing one of the brands in F J Benjamin’s portfolio Chan moved into the legal and corporate affairs group as the company’s corporate counsel. He was promoted to the role of group general counsel in 2010 and became head of digital marketing in 2011, where he was responsible for the group’s digital marketing and e-commerce strategy.