Event Report

More than 230 of Malaysia’s top in-house lawyers came together for The Legal 500’s 2023 Malaysia GC Summit. This was an exceptional gathering of the country’s top legal minds at a time when the nation’s corporate legal scene grapples with wide-ranging regulatory changes and the onset of new technologies that look set to upend the profession while creating new roles and responsibilities in-house lawyers across the land.

Our agenda had it all, from opening speaker Jeff Ong’s rousing address on the benefits and pitfalls of AI, all the way to our closing presentation from Datuk Sundra Rajoo of The Asian International Arbitration Centre who spoke in great detail about his institution’s unique offering for corporate counsel.

Between these, the agenda was just as informative. Kwan Keen Yew of CIMB Warisan TC Holdings’ Yin Ee Ong and Navrita Kaur of Microlink joined master of ceremonies Joe Boswell to discuss legal team management in our first panel session, with the distinguished guests talking about the great leaders they have met in their careers while debating on the best ways to motivate their people now.

Syarihah Razma of Mohanadass Partnership then helmed a wide-ranging debate on dispute resolution alongside a hugely charismatic panel: Aaron Mathews of The Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators, Alvin Tang at Bodipalar Ponnudurai De Silva and Sharin Veriah of Fusionex.

This detailed session was followed by Shearn Delamore & Co’s panel on ESG, perhaps the topic of the moment above all others for Malaysia in-house counsel now. Marhaini Nordin and Putri Noor Shariza Noordin of the host firm were here joined by: Ina Anzalna Shamsuddin, general counsel at Malaysia Airlines; Saravanan Desigamanie, head of sustainability, research & IR at Malakoff Corporation; Fareez Zahir, head of the legal, secretarial and corporate affairs division at Prolintas Group; and Jessica Walch-Barton, manager – corporate sustainability team (Strategy, Policy & Regulation) at PETRONAS.

After their excellent session at last year’s GC Summit Malaysia, Donovan Cheah and Shawn Ho returned to again share their wisdom with the audience, this time on M&A. Here, they spoke at length on the unique position their firm is to advise on transactions, given their dual expertise on corporate and employment matters

Hosted by one of the leading practitioners in the region, Kelvin Ng Chun Yee of Vin Cheng & Co, the next session investigated what in-house counsel need to be mindful of when identifying, preventing and prosecuting fraud within their companies. An already interesting topic brought extra spice by an engaging speaker, this session prompted many follow-up questions during the networking session

A former GC who has now gone back to private practice with Clyde & Co, Ton van den Bosch had great success with his presentation ‘The Many Hats of the General Counsel’ at our GC Summit Indonesia earlier in the year, and again thoroughly intrigued the audience with his well-researched overview of the modern in-house legal community.

After our prepared schedule, attendees moved on to one of the most well-attended networking sessions at any of our recent events, with the Malaysian in-house legal community again showcasing their amazing conversational aptitude.

It is always a pleasure to come to Malaysia and engage with the incredible in-house legal community there. We have many more events planned in the country, especially our GC Powerlist reception which will launch in mid-next year. If you know of any top in-house lawyers that deserve recognition, please reach out to joe.boswell@legal500.com to nominate them for this prestigious award.

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