About

Dutch brewing company Heineken employs an outstanding in-house legal team in the Asia Pacific region that is charged with protecting the company’s brand portfolio against a variety of challenges including, but not limited to, trademark infringement, compliance matters, competition law and compliance with all applicable regulatory directives. Legal manager Jeanette Lim, covers a number of countries ranging from the Solomon Islands to Taiwan where there is no local legal support. She is also the “go-to” person for company secretarial, treasury and finance maters whist legal manager Adrian Tan is the “go-to” person for compliance matters including business conduct and competition law. Both Tan and Lim are also seasoned M&A lawyers with a number of transactions under their belt. Operating within a flat structure, the team does nonetheless have ‘specialisation and dedicated country coverage’, according to regional legal director Geraldine Lim. The team she oversees is a highly productive one and has been involved in several important cases recently: Lim states the ‘complex merger in Mongolia and setting up a joint venture in the Philippines. We have also managed multi-million dollar litigation and arbitration and winning/ settling a number positively’, as being particular highlights. Speaking on the nature of the team’s cross-collaborative ability, the team is described by Lim as ‘the bridge between many functions because in preparing a contracts, cross functional inputs are required’. The market has dictated a change in focus for the team, in particular the ‘number of new laws and legislations’ afflicting the company. This has led to a need to always be on ones toes, looking at the macro environment, political and trade developments. Internally they have evolved with an ever-changing organisational structure. Operating in this context, Lim is proud of her team’s tenacity and drive, commenting that the Heineken Asia Pacific legal team is one that ‘goes down to the trenches and fights side by side with our colleagues’. She adds that, ‘The team is not just behind the desks because we see ourselves as part of the business. Heineken has a family culture and the same beer that pays everyone’s salary pays legal’s salary’.