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

Our significant project is setting up new business in Thailand. BNP Paribas launched a wealth management business – BNP Paribas Securities – in Thailand to expand its presence in the Asian market by setting a new separate entity.

Our legal team provided tremendous legal support from the project stage until its successful execution. We liaised on several matters, advising on the permitted business structure, the incorporation of company, applying to relevant authorities for a license, and making arrangement to have all legal documentation put in place for the operation of the company.

We also assisted on corporate governance, personal data protection, and transversal matters while setting up this new company.

In general, what would you like to see change about the external law firms you use?

We would like to see more innovative legal solutions from external counsel. As they are experts in the market, they should be able to advise us of unique solutions that are more practical and cost effective. Furthermore, in pitching stages, external counsel should be able to provide an overview and highlight existing and potential issues in a project; or create end-to-end processes for our consideration, to enable us to pre-empt and prepare for changes.

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

Corporate legal teams in the modern in-house industry require developed communication skills. This helps in understanding and connecting with internal clients, such as the business and operations teams. It is important be able to adapt this skill to different audiences, to effectively connect with them.

Corporate legal teams also need to be innovative and possess problem solving skills to work more efficiently, provide actionable solutions and add value to the business.