Skrine > The Legal 500 Rankings

Malaysia > Corporate and M&A Tier 1

To’ Puan Janet Looi leads Skrine‘s corporate division, which frequently handles high-value domestic and cross-border transactions including joint ventures, acquisitions, takeovers and inbound direct investment. Fariz Abdul Aziz  brings expertise in corporate restructurings, as well as sector experience in the oil and gas, renewables, manufacturing and financial services industries. Consultant Theresa Chong  specialises in advising multinational clients looking to invest into Malaysia and cross-border loans against Malaysian assets. Other key areas of work for the firm include compliance advice, corporate liability provisions, corporate governance and regulatory work.

Malaysia > Dispute resolution Tier 1

With a team of more than 15 senior counsel, the disputes practice at Skrine stands out for its experience across a wide variety of litigation. Key areas of expertise include commercial, civil, construction, banking, finance and tax disputes, as well as insolvency, shipping, aviation, anti-dumping and commercial fraud cases. Arbitration proceedings are also a core strength for the practice, with members of the group appearing in arbitrations conducted by the ICC, SIAC, AIAC and HKIAC. Leong Wai Hong, who has practiced in Singapore as well as Malaysia, heads up the practice, which fields up-and-coming partner Sharon Chong, who stands out for her aviation-related experience, representing lessors, financiers, reinsurers, airlines and regulatory bodies.

Malaysia > Intellectual property Tier 1

Charmayne Ong heads both the intellectual property practice and the technology, media and telecommunications practice at Skrine, while Khoo Guan Huat  heads the IP dispute resolution practice. Partner Kuek Pei Yee has a growing reputation in contentious matters but also advises clients on protection strategies. This substantial team provides comprehensive services to clients in sectors such as life sciences, healthcare, financial services, air travel, consumer and industrial goods. In addition to contentious matters, it also advises on areas including franchising, licensing and other commercialisation projects.

Malaysia > Labour and employment Tier 1

Skrine has a wealth of experience in the employment and industrial relations sphere, handling investigations, disciplinary action, retrenchment, compliance, and employment disputes. The highly experienced duo Siva Kumar Kanagasabai and Selvamalar Alagaratnam jointly lead the team; according to their clients, Kanagasabai provides ‘top draw commercial practical advice‘ and Alagaratnam is singled out for her ‘holistic thinking, calmness and legal acumen which make complicated issues resolved with the best outcome‘. Kanagasabai handles trade disputes, fraud-related issues and investigations, structuring senior executive packages, and advises on separation schemes and crisis management, while Alagaratnam provides support on compliance, managing the exit of employees, protection of confidential and proprietary information, disputes and business immigration.

Malaysia > TMT (including Fintech) Tier 1

Led by Charmayne Ong, the telecoms practice at Skrine is highly recommended for regulatory advice on issues including 5G, OTT service offerings, data centres for cloud computing services and the leasing of sub-sea and terrestrial fibres. Clients encompass established technology and telecoms providers, up-and-coming market disruptors, as well as government agencies and social media platforms. Other key areas of work in the technology field include negotiating agreements such as software license, software and hardware maintenance and service levels as well as website terms of use, privacy policies and end-user licence agreements.

Malaysia > Antitrust and competition Tier 2

Skrine’s competition team combines advisory and disputes expertise. It represents various companies and industry groups before the MyCC in block exemptions applications, cartel and abuse of dominance investigations, complaints and leniency applications. It also advises on pricing issues, compliance and assists with competition audits and dawn raids. Tan Shi Wen’s practice focuses on regulated industries including pharmaceuticals, insurance, aviation and shipping;  Wen jointly leads the competition team with To’ Puan Janet Looi, who also heads the firm’s corporate division.

Malaysia > Banking and finance Tier 2

Led by Theresa Chong, Skrine‘s practice predominantly advises lending clients and the team has broad knowledge and experience of conventional and Islamic finance, fintech,  syndicated loan, term loan facilities and foreign exchange control regulations. Disputes specialist Claudia Cheah has over 20 years of experience acting in banking and finance litigation, often involving substantial monetary claims, as well as in restructuring and insolvency cases. The department regularly represents banks, financial institutions, corporations and corporate borrowers based in Malaysia in litigation.

Malaysia > Projects and energy Tier 2

Skrine advises on matters across the energy spectrum, including renewable energy as well as upstream and downstream oil and gas, petrochemicals, energy management, electricity and gas transmission. Fariz Abdul Aziz heads the oil and gas practice and focuses on transactional and corporate matters. Richard Khoo Boo Hin has extensive experience in large scale projects, particularly in the power and infrastructure sectors, across the entire project life cycle.

Malaysia > Real estate and construction Tier 2

Skrine‘s real estate practice stands out for its work on property developments, drawing on the expertise of the closely linked construction and engineering practice. Theresa Chong  is a key name for commercial real estate transactions, regularly advising multinational clients; she also has a niche in assisting educational institutions setting up in Malaysia and for hotel operators and owners of hotels. Ashok Kumar Mahadev Ranai and Ivan Loo are experienced construction litigators, who are both highly active as arbitrators. Richard Khoo‘s practice focuses on non-contentious construction and engineering. He has considerable experience advising government-linked companies and developers on infrastructure, commercial and residential developments, and on drafting and negotiating project documents.

Malaysia > Shipping Tier 2

Skrine’s shipping practice is jointly led by Siva Kumar Kanagasabai who handles contentious matters and enforcement of ship mortgages under conventional and Islamic facilities; and Fariz Abdul Aziz who advises on the full range of non-contentious matters from ship registration to structuring. The team has seen an increase in cases involving the use of securities against cargo and vessels, and matters arising from the insolvency of shipping and oil trading businesses.

Malaysia > Tax Tier 2

Skrine represents clients in court and before the relevant tribunals on tax matters and assists with tax planning, audits and investigations. Litigator Preetha Pillai heads the tax and revenue practice and specialises in representing clients in disputes with the tax authorities. The team regularly supports the corporate, employment and intellectual property teams on the tax aspects of transactions, and works closely with Koon Huan Lim’s customs and trade remedies team and Vijay Raj’s rates and assessment team. Senior associate Manshan Singh is also recommended for contentious matters.

Malaysia > Islamic finance Tier 3

Skrine‘s Islamic finance practice handles a broad range of retail and corporate Islamic finance, project bonds, restructuring and regulatory issues, often acting for Islamic banks.  Practice head Sharifah Shafika binti Syed Abbas Alsagoff joined from Mohamed Ridza & Co in December 2020, as did partner Hafidah Aman Hashim. Claudia Cheah is highly experienced in Islamic banking and finance litigation.