Team size: Three in HQ; 100+ in APAC region

Key team members: Craig Katerberg, Bryan Warner and Gwendoline Lam

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

In early 2023, we evolved our audit committee to audit and risk committee, which is a first within the AB InBev Group (our parent company) and a leading measure for the consumer goods and food and beverage industry. We also established a management-level risk committee to provide strong backing for the audit and risk committee’s (ARC) risk management efforts. A combined ARC will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our board and board committees, and help validate and publicly recognise the risk-related oversight work that has been performed by our audit committee. It will also help highlight for our investors and stakeholders the risk oversight experience that our directors bring to our board, which we consider a competitive advantage.

We are one of the top 10 largest IPOs ever on the HKEX and became publicly listed in September 2019. Our team continues maintaining high governance standards and transparent dialogue with the Exchange, as we have prior to our listing.

Can you sum up the team culture in one sentence?

Regarding our team ethos, our team adheres to Bud APAC’s 10 principles. These are: we dream big; we are owners who think long-term; we are powered by great people and build diverse teams through inclusion and collaboration; we lead change and innovate for our consumers; we grow when our customers grow; we believe in simplicity and scalable solutions; we manage costs tightly and make choices to drive growth; we create and share superior value; and we never take shortcuts.

Apart from legal matters, has the team worked on other company initiatives?

On initiatives other than legal, we undertake multiple actions on various areas. On ethics and compliance, we have a compliance month – October – with compliance trainings and whistleblowers hotlines. On diversity, against industry standards, we guarantee a board and workforce diversity benchmark. Lastly, we also engage in sustainability and corporate social responsibility action, through Corona lime and hope schools, among others.