What was the state of the legal team at Tricor when you took over, and how have you developed its capabilities? You joined in the middle of the pandemic as well, right? 

The function was at a nascent stage when I joined the company. The circumstances provided a unique opportunity to build the team from scratch and setting the right values and work ethics in the team.

We introduced workstreams and methodologies to simplify processes to efficiently conduct contract reviews, and effectively partner with the business in actively managing legal risk.

Most of my team members joined right in the middle of the pandemic. It was a unique experience as we immediately started working virtually and I believed it was a litmus test of a person’s character, integrity and work ethic. I am happy to say we all passed the test with flying colours.

Could you please provide an overview of the significant cases or transactions your legal team has recently been involved in? 

We had the privilege and opportunity to design the compliance risk management framework for the organisation from the ground up to encompass areas such as AMLCFT, Personal Data Protection, Regulatory Risk, and Operational Risk.

We redesigned and reengineered client onboarding processes which managed to mitigate the AMLCFT risk of the company, significantly reduced the time taken to onboard clients, to improve the client onboarding experience and yet effectively manage the company’s AMLCFT risk.

As a result of this initiative, our employees now have more time for other tasks, and clients no longer need to spend excessive time responding to queries. This resulted in saving more than 10,000 man-hours annually in Tricor Malaysia. 

You are one of the youngest general counsel in Malaysia; how were you able to reach this milestone so relatively quickly, and what is it like dealing with senior management who are older than you? 

Somehow people often comment that I look a lot older than my real age. I think that certainly helps!

Jokes aside, I knew that to increase my chances to land a general counsel role, in-house or compliance exposure is needed and the transition is preferably done before I hit my 30s. Hence, I bit the bullet and left a promising trajectory in private practice. I embarked on a regulatory compliance role in HSBC at the age of 29. It provided a wide exposure to world-class compliance frameworks and best practices. With the experience & skills gained in both legal & compliance, I was very fortunate when the opportunity arose at Tricor to take the helm of its nascent function at the age of 32.

Working with my colleagues in the senior management team at Tricor has truly been enjoyable. They’ve been true professionals and I’ve never once felt that my professional opinion is undermined or stifled simply because they are 20 to 30 years older than me. It has been an enriching experience & privilege to serve my colleagues who are industry titans in their respective areas of professional services.