How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

I see the legal and compliance team as a business enabler working alongside the business to identify, review and manage risks relevant to the company’s business and operations. This then enables not just appropriate transaction lawyering but also to strategically enter new markets and successfully manage operations in existing countries.

What are the main cases or transactions that you have been involved in recently?

Expansion of existing visa processing business to travel related value added services such as travel concierge, travel insurance and more globally across numerous countries has involved significant legal issue management, technology awareness and effective resource management to help the business meet their short timelines.

How have you integrated technology into your legal processes, and what impact has this had on efficiency and compliance?

We are in the process of implementing a CLM system to effectively capture legal work requests, measure and reduce turnaround times, effectively standardise documents, and create a database for understanding customer needs. In addition, our enterprise risk management system is used to effectively identify, monitor measure and treat risks across various functions and business initiatives. Risk management is an integral component of a legal and compliance team’s scope, and a sound technology platform is essential as a foundation.

What do you see as the major legal challenges for businesses in the region over the next five years, and how are you preparing to address them?

Rapid business growth, new lines of business across multiple jurisdictions, incorporation of AI in various business initiatives remain key challenges. Keeping pace with new regulations and laws across various countries remains a challenge which can be met with increasing use of technological tools. The focus is on “working smarter” and not just “doing more with less”. Building trusted relationships with select law firms and working with them as an extension of one’s in-house legal team is key especially for strategic major projects.