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

APAC Realty, which is listed on SGX, is Singapore’s largest international real estate agency, with more than 17,000 associates operating within Asia Pacific. In 2021, the group of companies under APAC Realty generated more than S$730m of revenue from various real estate transactions. In 2022, APAC Realty’s majority stake-holding was purchased by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia.

The legal and compliance department handles all legal matters for ERA Singapore, as well as its parent company APAC Realty, and its subsidiaries throughout the region. A key point of emphasis for the team in 2022 is in levelling up the organisation, the industry and the consumer understanding of legal issues related to real estate transactions. In this, ERA engages its audience through its blend of media, social media and in-person platforms, such as our 200-seater auditorium and a 110-seater media hub.

The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated an unprecedented amount of change to the industry and ERA. We were able to swiftly pivot and transform its offerings to agents and clients through the use of various technological platforms.

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

Legal and compliance teams traditionally see themselves as a professional support function in an organisation. Through the years, some evolved to become trusted advisers to the business.

My team has evolved to become a unique selling proposition that the company offers to our agents, clients, and regulators. This is because, in highly regulated professional industries such as estate agency, compliance is absolutely critical. This has been a crucial mindset change and we are proud to be the industry leader in this respect.

How do you suggest in-house lawyers build strong relationships with business partners?

in-house teams should consider how they can evolve to become a part of the company’s product offering to clients; this will cause internal and external business partners to seek to build strong relationships with them.

The ERA compliance team has always consisted of officers from the business end, as this enhances the team’s ability to maintain strong lines of communication with the business partners.

Looking forward, what technological advancements do you feel will impact the role of in-house legal teams in the future the most? Which have you found most useful in your legal team?

When excellent work is done, this is seen, and felt, by stakeholders; the benefits of this can be amplified to the entire organisation. For ERA, we leverage on platforms which already exist, such as our various apps and, where appropriate, social media, in order to amplify key messages and producing a multiplying effect.