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

Our legal team has been actively involved in the recently announced restructuring of the consumer banking business of HSBC Philippines. This involves the simplification of the legal entities we use for our consumer banking business and the consequent transfer of assets to, and assumption of liabilities by, the main bank, which is a branch of a foreign bank. Our team provided guidance to our business colleagues leveraging our knowledge and expertise on, among others, banking and financial laws, data privacy, contractual liability, and financial consumer rights. We were also involved in converting our insurance brokerage entity into a wealth and insurance brokerage business. Our involvement includes advising on the amendment of the constitutional documents of the brokerage entity and assisting in the application for a secondary license to allow our business colleagues to engage in the enhanced business of wealth and insurance brokerage.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?

For us, it is indispensable that we work with external lawyers who align with our company’s values. This is the reason why we have stringent requirements for accrediting an external law firm. Once accredited, our external lawyers are expected to continue complying with these requirements so long as we have an existing relationship with them. These requirements or values are not meant to make things difficult for our external counsel. Rather, they are meant to ensure that we are partners, and as partners we expect that we have shared values that give life to the truism that doing right is good business. If ever we feel that our external counsel does not believe in this truism, we have no choice but to reconsider our relationship with the said counsel. We are always sensitive to the fact that when they represent us and our bank, they are showing to the world our bank culture and values.

As we live in a fast-paced world today, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

A corporate legal team needs to be an advocate of innovation in this fast-paced world. What we need to understand though is that in advocating for innovation, it does not mean that we must always have the best and newest technology. Technology, whether in the form of IT infrastructure or modern platforms, will be helpful. But at its core, innovation is about culture, a culture that encourages out-of-the-box thinking, agility, adaptability, and the willingness to take risks and manage them. These, I believe, are the modern-day skills that a legal team needs to have to succeed in this ever-changing world. We should not be content with merely reviewing or drafting documents for the business. We should empower partners in the business to find ways and means to make things simpler, faster, and more attuned to the commercial realities of the transactions we are trying to document. In concrete terms, this means talking to the business, understanding how they generate revenues, and identifying issues and concerns even before they arise. We need to play an active role in order to help to grow the business in a safe and secure manner.

If existent, can you talk about you or your company’s efforts on renewability, sustainability, or other environmentally friendly activities?

HSBC is committed to achieving its net zero objectives. It has publicly announced its commitment to achieve net zero status in its operations and supply chain by 2030 and assist its clients in completing their net zero journey by 2050. Within the bank, we have an ESG Forum attended by the CEO and other senior officers where we discuss, agree on, and track our ESG activities keeping in mind the twin net zero objectives we set for ourselves and our clients. Recently, our legal team was involved in the drafting, review and negotiation of an omnibus loan and securities agreement in connection with a PHP1.3bn green loan. The proceeds of the green loan will be used by our client to finance its sustainable waste management, materials recovery, and refuse-derived fuel conversion efforts. We are proud that our company walks the talk when it comes to ESG.