Singapore is the focal point of BNP Paribas’ South-East Asian operations. The legal team is routinely involved in supporting high-profile, cross-border structured finance and supply chain financings for its global customers. Notable transactions in 2022 include the syndicated K-SURE export credit insurance-covered USD $350m financing arranged between BNP Paribas Singapore and South Korean branches to support SK Ecoplant’s acquisition of TES Envirocorp in Singapore. A multi-jurisdictional secured credit facility for GLP Pte. in close coordination between BNP Paribas Singapore and Brazilian branches. Additionally, we secured real estate acquisition facilities for German subsidiaries of Masan Group Corporation, one of Vietnam’s top three largest private sector companies, arranged between BNP Paribas Singapore and German branches.

Integrity and the desire to prove ourselves daily are the core values driving our success at BNP Paribas. The deals we execute for our customers are often complex and time-sensitive, putting us in unchartered waters. When navigating legal issues under tremendous pressure, it is imperative that our external lawyers – our closest allies – have the unwavering desire to achieve the best outcome for us while maintaining the highest ethical standards.

In Singapore, where the domestic market is relatively small, we constantly look beyond our shores to serve customers in the region. This requires a sophisticated understanding of different legal systems, cultural sensitivity, and the uncommon talent to seek consensus where there is apparent conflict. Though the Singapore legal system is advanced, and its commercial laws consistently enforced, we need to evolve keen street instincts to ensure that our contracts can be structured to achieve effective enforcement wherever our business takes us. I am uniquely equipped for these tasks, having practised in Tokyo for five years and been on the ground advising on transactions in all South-East Asian jurisdictions where BNP Paribas operates.

As in-house lawyers, we need to be reliable and trustworthy business enablers. To build strong relationships with our business partners, we need to ensure that good advice is always delivered promptly and that any ‘less-than-optimal’ structure presented by the business partners is augmented by sound refinements and mitigants which are palatable to all stakeholders so that business goals can be achieved in a legally safe manner.