Event information
Legal 500’s Green Forum Singapore is set to return in 2025 with an even more timely and impactful programme. At a moment when sustainability initiatives are facing growing pressures from regulators, stakeholders, and shifting market dynamics, this year’s forum arrives as an essential platform for organisations seeking to strengthen their green credentials and navigate the evolving ESG landscape.
The Green Forum Singapore 2025 will once again bring together high-profile speakers, including leading legal experts and prominent sustainability figures. Their insights will shed light on the legal sector’s crucial role in guiding the transition towards more responsible, transparent, and resilient business practices.
Attendees can expect in-depth discussions on how General Counsel (GCs) are evolving their strategies in response to heightened scrutiny of sustainability policies. With a focus on Singapore and Southeast Asia, the programme will also address region-specific ESG risks and opportunities – equipping in-house counsel with the knowledge needed to ensure both compliance with emerging regulations and leadership in sustainable business practices.
Beyond keynote addresses, the forum will foster dynamic debates and interactive sessions that tackle one of the defining challenges of our era. The event will close with a dedicated networking session, providing a space for legal professionals, industry leaders, and sustainability experts to exchange ideas, share best practices, and explore opportunities for collaboration in advancing sustainable legal frameworks.
Agenda
2.45pm – 3.15pm Arrival & Registration
3.15pm – 3.30pm Welcome Address and Opening remarks
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- Joe Boswell, global editor GC Powerlist Series, Legal 500
- Jerry Koh, managing partner, Allen & Gledhill
3.30pm – 4.30pm The Impact of Technology and AI on ESG: Considerations and Challenges
What are the ESG implications as more businesses move towards the adoption of technology and AI? This session will explore the key considerations and challenges that arise at the intersection of technology, AI, and ESG. Our panellists will examine the implications for corporate responsibility, risk management, ethical standards, and regulatory compliance, while discussing how companies can effectively navigate this complex and evolving terrain to drive sustainable value.
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- Tham Kok Leong, head of technology & corporate intellectual property practice, Allen & Gledhill
- Sophie Lim, co-head of ESG & public policy practice, Allen & Gledhill
- Doris Chen, head of legal, APAC, dsm-firmenich
- Richard Koh, chief technology officer, Microsoft Asia, Enterprise Partner Solutions
4.30pm – 5.30pm Sustainable finance and green capital markets: The legal counsel’s role
Singapore is known as a frontrunner in South-east Asia in sustainability-related regulatory developments, particularly in sustainability reporting and sustainable finance. This is especially so since the launch of the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance (SAT), which has set rigorous standards and benchmarks for green and transition financing. This panel will focus on the legal counsel’s evolving role in navigating sustainable finance and green capital markets, including supporting businesses in aligning with the SAT, managing regulatory risks, structuring sustainable financial instruments, and ensuring robust ESG disclosures.
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- Mushtaq Kapasi, managing director, chief representative Asia-Pacific, International Capital Market Association
- Elsa Chen, co-head of ESG & public policy practice and regional co-head of competition & foreign investment review practice, Allen & Gledhill
- Ong Kangxin, partner, Allen & Gledhill
5.30pm – 5.40pm Closing remarks
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- Elsa Chen, co-head of ESG & public policy practice and regional co-head of competition & foreign investment review practice, Allen & Gledhill
5.40pm – 6.30pm Drinks and canapes
6.30pm – Event Concludes
Speakers
Elsa Chen, co-head of ESG & public policy practice and regional co-head of competition & foreign investment review practice, Allen & Gledhill
Elsa is Co-Head of the Firm’s ESG & Public Policy Practice, and Regional Co-Head of its Competition & Foreign Investment Review Practice.
Elsa’s ESG and public policy experience ranges from assisting clients on ESG trends and implications, sustainability reporting, codes of conduct, advocacy, and assisting on legislative changes. Elsa also regularly assists clients on the antitrust, consumer protection and public policy aspects of ESG matters, including collaboration agreements, merger control, and greenwashing claims.
As Regional Co-Head of the Competition & Foreign Investment Review Practice, Elsa also advises clients complex antitrust and foreign investments review matters in Singapore and beyond, including merger control, global cartel and abuse of dominance investigations. Elsa is the only economist in Asia cited as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Lexology Index: Competition – Economists 2024 and 2025.
Elsa joined the Firm in 2007, and was previously from the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore, and also a pioneer member of the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS), now known as the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS).
Jerry Koh, managing partner, Allen & Gledhill
Jerry is Managing Partner of Allen & Gledhill LLP. Jerry has been practising as a corporate lawyer since 1993. Jerry’s main areas of practice cover investment funds, capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions; and he has advised on numerous notable international and domestic transactions. Jerry joined the Firm as a Partner in 2001 from an international firm in Hong Kong.
Jerry heads the Firm’s Investment Funds Practice and REITs Practice. He was formerly Co-Head of the Financial Services Department, Deputy Managing Partner and Joint Managing Partner of the Firm prior to assuming the current role of Managing Partner.
Jerry is the leading authority on REITs and business trusts, and he has been involved in the listing of almost all the REITs and business trusts in the Singapore market. He was the lead counsel of Hutchinson Port Holding Trust in the largest IPO in South-east Asia to date. Jerry has also been involved in almost all the secondary offerings and convertible bond issues by Singapore REITs and business trusts. He has further advised on a number of REIT listings in Malaysia as international counsel.
Tham Kok Leong, head of technology & corporate intellectual property practice, Allen & Gledhill
Kok Leong is Head of the Technology & Corporate Intellectual Property Practice, and his area of expertise spans technology, Artificial Intelligence & emerging technologies, electronic transactions, online platforms, intellectual property, data protection, cybersecurity, franchising, e-commerce and outsourcing transactions and projects as well as contractual collaborations.
He has over 25 years’ experience in advising on, negotiating and drafting a wide range of commercial agreements related to the procurement, commercialisation and/or deployment of various artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, intellectual property and IT, data protection and data privacy, cybersecurity, e-commerce, Financial Technology (FinTech), outsourcing, franchising, licensing, merchandising, contractual collaborations and joint ventures, telecommunications, consultancy services, hotels and hospitality, distributorships, agency, supply and service arrangements, contract manufacturing, technology transfers, research and development, sports, online gaming, media and publishing, entertainment, on-line gaming, cloud services and streaming services.
Doris Chen, head of legal, APAC, dsm-firmenich
Doris Chen started her career as a Legal Associate in Beiten Burkhardt Shanghai Office in 2006, and she was later seconded to GE Consumer & Industrial as China Counsel in 2009. In 2017, Doris joined Firmenich as a Legal Director. She has risen through the ranks to become a VP Head of Legal for APAC, China & India with a number of subordinates. Doris has recently been awarded the Women Lawyer of the Year SE by ALB. She is known for her ability to handle complex regulatory and compliance gaps between the industry standards in Asia and Europe.
Sophie Lim, co-head of ESG & public policy practice, Allen & Gledhill
Sophie is Co-Head of the Firm’s ESG & Public Policy Practice and a Partner in the Corporate & Commercial Department.
Sophie’s range of competencies encompass advising on corporate regulatory compliance and corporate governance for private companies and SGX-ST listed companies. She provides counsel on listing Singapore companies on NYSE and NASDAQ, fundraising, employee equity incentive schemes, corporate reorganisations and employment matters.
Sophie’s portfolio of work also focuses on the corporate governance elements of ESG, helping clients incorporate best practices into their sustainability efforts. She is active in advising companies on shareholders’ activism and in resolving boardroom conflict. She also advises on the design of innovative equity and phantom incentive plans for founders, senior management and employees, for pre-IPO and listed companies.
Sophie is listed in-guide as a recommended practitioner in both Lexology Index: Singapore and Lexology Index: Southeast Asia for her expertise in corporate governance.
Sophie joined the Firm in 1997 shortly after she was called to the Singapore Bar and has been a Partner since 2004.
Mushtaq Kapasi, managing director, chief representative Asia-Pacific, International Capital Market Association
Mushtaq Kapasi leads ICMA’s work in the Asia-Pacific region. He has been based in Hong Kong since 2002, engaged in senior strategy, capital market and legal roles covering the region at international banks active in Asia. He has worked as a lawyer in debt capital markets and derivatives, a structurer in equities and fixed income, a manager of complex trades with regulatory and accounting considerations, and an adviser to top executives on emerging market strategy. He has also designed financial structures of renewable energy projects in frontier markets. He studied mathematics at the University of Texas and law at Yale University.
Ong Kangxin, partner, Allen & Gledhill
Kangxin’s areas of practice encompass debt capital markets and banking. Kangxin has extensive experience acting for both issuers and banks on a wide range of debt capital markets transactions spanning programme establishments, offerings of notes and perpetual securities, liability management and securitisations. She also has substantial experience in banking transactions, having represented both borrowers and lenders in complex and high-value transactions, including IPO financing, profit participation securities financing, onshore-offshore financing and development financing.
Kangxin was called to the Singapore Bar in 2006 when she joined Allen & Gledhill and has been a Partner since 2012.
Richard Koh, chief technology officer, Microsoft Asia, Enterprise Partner Solutions
Richard Koh is the Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft Asia, Enterprise Partner Solutions. In this role, he leads the technology strategy for Microsoft’s partner ecosystem across Asia, helping partners harness innovations in cloud, AI, and cybersecurity. His career spans multiple geographical regions and functions, including R&D, IT, product management, marketing, and sales operations, with a deep passion for how technology can positively impact communities and nations.
Richard began his career at Hewlett-Packard, working first in Singapore and then to the U.S. California San Franscisco Bay Area, where he gained extensive experience in emerging internet and telecom technologies. He joined Microsoft in Redmond, Washington, in 2006, led product management for several Microsoft products and eventually becoming part of the founding team for Office 365, leading its technical product management team. After relocating to Singapore in 2011, he contributed to Microsoft’s cloud services launch in China. He then joined Singtel in late 2013 for a 2½ year stint to lead and transform their businesses in cloud, data centers, M2M/IoT solutions and industry vertical solutions, before returning to Microsoft in 2016 as CTO for Singapore. In 2023, he was appointed to CTO for ASEAN Global Partner Solutions, and in 2025 promoted to CTO for Asia Enterprise Partner Solutions.
Beyond his corporate role, Richard serves on several public and private boards, including Singapore’s MHA HTX, MCCY NHB, and Income Insurance Limited. He had also advised Sentosa Development Corporation’s Digital Transformation Advisory Panel (6 years) and previously chaired SGTech’s AI & HPC Chapter (3 years). A graduate of the National University of Singapore in Computer Science & Information Systems, Richard is a father of two boys, and enjoys running, swimming, skiing, sci-fi movies, tech tinkering and recently picked up DJ-ing as a personal challenge.
Joe Boswell, global editor GC Powerlist Series, Legal 500
Joe Boswell has been a part of The Legal 500’s editorial team, specialising on the in-house legal community, for almost a decade. He now heads The Powerlist team, acting as chief editor for the over 40 separate editions of the GC Powerlist series which serve as The Legal 500’s flagship title celebrating the world’s top in-house counsel. He is also head of content for Legal 500 Events.
During the course of researching for the GC Powerlist series, Boswell has interviewed a vast number of world-renowned general counsel, chief legal officers, and legal directors about overcoming the challenges they face, their legal innovations, and how they see the general counsel role progressing in coming years. As well as this, he is a regular speaker at Legal 500 summits, roundtables, award ceremonies and other events, and often writes in-depth reports on business and legal issues.
Boswell graduated both the University of Sussex in The United Kingdom and the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in The Netherlands.
