Team size: 29

Key team members: Eunice Chew – General Counsel, ASEAN (July 2014 to June 2022), Jennifer Lee – General Counsel, ASEAN (July 2022 to August 2023), Chan Lai Hing – General Counsel, ASEAN and Singapore, Christine Li, Sajie Perera, Anh Nguyen Pham, Anita Mary Fernandez, Ary Prasetyo, Carolina Francisca A Racelis, Karnjana Sangchai

Can you sum up the team culture or ethos?

The ASEAN GCO started with a team of four lawyers in 2013. It has now grown to a team of six country general counsel, each with their team of lawyers and two regional counsel, all reporting to the ASEAN general counsel.

This team of dedicated, dynamic lawyers serve the EY Firms within the ASEAN region and is responsible for providing legal advice and support on a wide range of matters, including contracts, transactions, dispute resolution and regulatory compliance. Regarding significant transactions, the ASEAN GCO was critical to the design and execution of Project Everest. Commencing in 2021, Project Everest was an incredibly challenging project which aimed to separate EY’s auditing and consulting activities to avoid conflicts of interest and restructure EY into two distinct businesses. Project Everest was a distinctive example where the ASEAN GCO worked hand-in-glove with the business and other support functions in-country and cross-border to address the needs of Project Everest.

The ASEAN GCO has a culture of collaboration and peer mentoring, focusing on a core EY value of Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness. The team comprises lawyers of different training and backgrounds who work seamlessly together to share experiences so that each lawyer is upskilled to handle legal matters they may not have previously encountered before joining EY. In addition, the general counsel regularly shares learnings that have cross-border relevance. The team also has a culture of continuous learning to adapt to the changes in EY’s services and business strategy, such as EY.ai – EY’s most recent service offering. The ASEAN GCO is proud to support EY’s purpose of Building a better working world.