Agenda

12.00pm-1.00pm Registration and welcome lunch 

1.00pm-1.05pm Opening remarks 

    • Allan Cohen, senior research editor, Legal 500

1.05pm-1.15pm Keynote

    • Dalvin Kaur, head of legal, group global banking, Maybank

1.15pm-2.05pm Cyber, data and compliance: protecting the business in a digital age, in association with HHQ

As digital transformation accelerates, the landscape of cyber and data privacy risk is evolving rapidly. This panel will examine the practical and legal implications of GDPR, emerging privacy regulations, and cyber security threats for corporations. Top GCs will discuss strategies for balancing innovation with compliance, embedding data protection and risk management into organisational practices, and ensuring resilience in the face of increasingly complex regulatory and technological challenges.

    • Ong Johnson, partner, co-head of the technology practice group, HHQ
    • Lo Khai Yi, partner, co-head of the technology practice group, HHQ
    • Charmian Aw, partner, Hogan Lovells Lee & Lee

2.05pm-2.55pm Getting deals done in uncertain times: risk, regulation and new tools in ASEAN M&A, in association with Zaid Ibrahim & Co

This panel explores the latest trends and challenges in M&A transactions across ASEAN, set against a backdrop of sustained macro uncertainty. Drawing on current deal experience, the discussion will examine how geopolitical uncertainty, regulatory complexity and constrained liquidity are flowing into deal structuring, risk allocation and execution strategy—including the growing use of W&I insurance as a tool to bridge valuation gaps and manage risk. The panel will also consider the increasing role of AI and new technologies in deal execution. Join experienced practitioners as they share what is changing on the ground—and what in-house counsels need to consider to execute deals successfully.

    • Gilbert Gan, senior partner, Zaid Ibrahim & Co
    • Jonathan Lim, managing partner, Zaid Ibrahim & Co
    • Tom Jokelson, partner, A&O Shearman
    • Aizad Khair, product leader – Asia, Beazley

2.55pm-3.15pm Coffee break

3.15pm-4.05pm The modern general counsel and risk dashboard, in association with RDS Partnership

Today’s General Counsel must anticipate risk as much as respond to it. Yet the most serious threats rarely exist in isolation: challenges in projects, governance, workforce, or tax often overlap, with a breakdown in one area creating ripple effects across the business.

This session explores how a holistic ‘risk dashboard’ perspective can help GCs understand how risks emerge and interact across the business lifecycle, from investment and expansion to crisis management. Drawing on real-world examples, the panel will consider major projects and energy transition initiatives, governance frameworks, workforce challenges, and the strategic role of tax.

Attendees will gain practical insights for aligning legal functions across the organisation, breaking down silos, and managing risk proactively to support stronger, more resilient decision-making.

      • S. Saravana Kumar, partner, Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership
      • Kamilah Kasim, partner, Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership
      • Michele Kythe Lim, partner, Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership
      • Rajeswari Karupiah, partner, Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership

4.05pm-4.35pm Geopolitics, trade wars and supply chain shifts – legal risks and what in-house counsels should be preparing for, in association with TSF Law

This session will explore how rising geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions are impacting businesses and the key legal risks that follow, including sanctions, cross-border restrictions and contractual uncertainties. It will focus on how in-house counsels can respond by strengthening contractual protections, assessing counterparty and jurisdictional risks, and building flexibility into commercial arrangements to better manage uncertainty.

    • David Lim, partner, TSF Law
    • George Teng, partner, TSF Law
    • Victor Chang, CEO and general counsel, Solarlink Energy
    • Ooi Hui Yi, chief legal officer, MAMEE-Double Decker

4.35pm-4.50pm Coffee break

4.50pm-5.40pm When disputes become boardroom issues: the GC’s playbook for high-stakes decisions, in association with Juen, Jeat, Nic & Nair

When issues escalate into live disputes, they do not stay in the legal team for long. They quickly become board-level matters, with the general counsel expected to help shape the commercial and strategic response as much as the legal one.

This session focuses on that point where a matter becomes contentious and moves into active dispute. Panellists will explore how general counsel handle early strategic advice once a dispute is underway, the litigation versus arbitration decision, settlement strategy and leverage, reputational risk, funding options, and enforcement. The discussion will centre on how these decisions are made in real time, under pressure, when the business is already in conflict and looking for clear direction.

    • Danaindran Rajendran, general counsel, Asia School of Business

5.40pm-6.30pm Carbon markets, carbon tax and Malaysia’s green energy transition, in association with Rahmat Lim & Partners

As Malaysia’s transition to a low-carbon economy accelerates, this panel will unpack key regulatory developments, including the upcoming Climate Change Bill and the parallel push to mandate Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) and establish a domestic carbon market. From a practical in-house perspective, the panel will discuss the shift of carbon reduction to a mandatory compliance obligation, including what constitutes “permitted leakage” and how companies can position themselves to access carbon credits and offsets, with contractual implications for vendor and supplier relationships.

The session will also examine growing exposure to climate-related litigation, and how general counsel can mitigate legal, regulatory and reputational risk through governance, disclosure and contracting strategies, including the consequences of regulatory non-compliance.

    • Dzuhairi Jaafar Thani, partner, Rahmat Lim & Partners
    • Kwong Chiew Ee, partner, Rahmat Lim & Partners
    • Northon Lee, legal and compliance manager, KIP REIT
    • Sharan Kaur, head of legal, Hong Leong Investment Bank

6.30pm-6.35pm Closing remarks

    • Allan Cohen, senior research editor, Legal 500

6.35pm-7.30pm Drinks and canapes