Adrian Yeo – GC Powerlist
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Southeast Asia 2022

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Adrian Yeo

General counsel and head of ESG | Growtheum Capital Partner

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Southeast Asia 2022

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Adrian Yeo

General counsel and head of ESG | Growtheum Capital Partner

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

This year has been one of transition for me as I moved from Credit Suisse, where I led two teams as the head of legal for Southeast Asia (SEA) as well as the most senior lawyer of the SEA legal team covering its Investment Banking and Capital Markets business. At Credit Suisse, my team and I covered a large variety of high profile and complex capital markets transactions and public M&A transactions.

I recently joined Growtheum Capital Partners as its general counsel and head of ESG. Since then, I have been involved in negotiating with potential investors or limited partners in respect of their investments in Growtheum’s debut fund and advising the investment team on legal, compliance and other matters in respect of its potential investments. I have also established ESG and other governance processes for the firm or fund in line with industry best practices and investor expectations.

If you have worked in other countries, what are the main challenges unique to operating as an in-house counsel in your current location?

I have worked in California, Silicon Valley, and one of the main challenges unique to operating as an in-house counsel working in Singapore, but primarily with businesses focused on transactions across SEA, is having to deal with multiple legal systems at varying levels of development and where English is usually not the main language spoken or used. In many of the SEA jurisdictions, not only are the laws often unclear, the judicial and regulatory approach and interpretation of such laws are also quite different. As such, experience in dealing with local legal issues, understanding the politics, culture, and motivations of local institutions, developing an appropriate legal risk framework and appetite, and identifying the right local law firms to partner with are critical to an in-house counsel’s ability to thrive.

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

It is key that in-house lawyers and corporate legal teams move beyond just identifying and managing legal risk since businesses are demanding (and will continue to demand) more from their in-house lawyers. We need to embed ourselves in our companies’ businesses and understand the operational, economic, commercial, and other key aspects of these businesses better, so that we can add greater value by becoming strategic advisors, and not just of strictly legal matters. We also need to be more flexible and nimbler in terms of our coverage areas – we have lots to offer in terms of knowledge, experience, and judgment and, to that extent, we are able to shoulder additional responsibilities, such as in ESG, compliance and other matters. This will add to greater efficiency in our organisations as well as stronger relationships with our business partners.

Adrian Yeo - Green Southeast Asia 2023

General counsel and head of ESG | Growtheum Capital Partners

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Adrian Yeo

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