About

Taking on group general counsel, legal and corporate affairs and company secretarial responsibilities for one of Singapore’s largest and most diverse companies is no mean feat, but provides Jeffery Tan ample opportunity to display his excellent legal and business abilities at the highest level of business. When discussing the success he has had within his career, Tan emphasises the variety of skills needed by the modern general counsel, as well as the contribution they should make to the wider world: ‘I believe the success of a general counsel goes beyond the law. Yes, a competent general counsel needs to be a great business partner but they also need to have an ability to positively impact the larger community beyond just law and business’. Since joining Jardine Cycle & Carriage (JC&C) in April 2016, Tan has had a major positive effect on the overall company. He led the legal and strategy team for the US$1.2bn investment for a 10.6% interest in Vietnam Dairy Company (Vinamilk), the largest company by market capitalisation on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, securing a seat on the board of VNM in the process. In addition to this, he was in charge of efforts to significantly improve JC&C’s Singapore Governance and Transparency Index (SGTI) in which he has proved extremely successful; the company’s ranking jumped 31 places to number 57 in the list, and was runner up winner for the most transparent large-capitalisation company award by the Securities Investors Association of Singapore in 2018.