Southeast Asia 2025
Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel
General counsel and senior vice president | Frontiir
General counsel Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan and India | EssilorLuxottica
Executive vice president, regional group legal, corporate and secretarial affairs | Asahi Holdings
General manager legal corporate governance division | Telkomsel
Senior vice president of legal, compliance and privacy; corporate secretary | Privy
General counsel region ASEAN, Australia | Siemens
Head of legal Asia-Pacific and Middle East | TotalEnergies Marketing Services
Senior vice president and head of legal, APAC | Publicis Groupe
Chief legal officer, South and Southeast Asia | Louis Dreyfus Company
Managing director, general counsel at Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Funds | Macquarie Asset Management
Corporate secretary, chief compliance officer, senior vice president, chief legal officer | Aboitiz Power
Corporate secretary, corporate governance group head and chief legal officer | Ayala Corporation
Associate general counsel and assistant corporate secretary | San Miguel Corporation
Managing director, global counsel ethics and compliance | Accenture
Senior executive vice president, head of legal and compliance | CIMB Thai Bank
Managing director of legal for Southeast Asia and North Pacific | FedEx Express
General counsel of Asia-Pacific | Revantage Asia-Pacific
Country head of legal, Coca-Cola Pinya Beverages Myanmar; interim country head of legal, Coca-Cola Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei | Coca-Cola
General counsel and chief commercial officer | Minor International
Group general counsel, head of secretariat and compliance | CapitaLand Investment
Global chief legal, ethics, and compliance officer | Jollibee Group
General manager; head of Group legal, compliance and risk management; Group integrity officer; Group data protection officer | Warisan TC Holdings
Lead senior counsel, CBRE Global Workplace Solutions, APAC | CBRE
Asia-Pacific general counsel and global head of ESG legal | SHEIN Group
Senior director, legal affairs and general counsel | Kulicke and Soffa
Director of corporate services and general counsel | Eastern Pacific Shipping
Vice president and assistant general counsel | IBM Asia-Pacific and Japan
General counsel and vice president corporate development | Campana Group
Vice president – legal, ethics and compliance; corporate secretary and data protection officer | Manila Water
General counsel and chief compliance officer, APAC | CBRE Investment Management
Asia-Taiwan general counsel; CBG Philippines; and GSC general counsel | 3M
Chief legal and compliance officer, Aboitiz Group general counsel | Aboitiz Equity Ventures
Director of legal and corporate affairs, APAC | Infront Sports and Media
Executive vice president, legal and international projects | Thoresen Thai Agencies (TTA)
Head of legal, government relations and sustainability | McDonald’s Singapore
Vice President, Corporate and Operations, Legal Division | PTTEPP
Group general counsel and chief sustainability officer | Jardine Cycle & Carriage
Chief operating officer and general counsel Asia-Pacific | Aquila Clean Energy APAC
Vice president legal and compliance | Singapore Airlines
General counsel and executive vice president corporate services | BW Group
Vice president, structuring and regulatory affairs; head of legal | Aboitiz InfraCapital
Head of legal affairs, Michelin E2A region (East Asia and Australia) | Michelin Asia-Pacific
Head of legal | PVEP (PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation)
Senior vice president, regional head of compliance and regulatory, APAC | OMERS Administration
From everyone at Legal 500, congratulations to all the unparalleled GCs featured in the most star-studded GC Powerlist Southeast Asia yet. Legal leaders, advisors, strategisers, businesspeople, dealmakers… the list of achievements of those featured this year goes on for many pages. In fact, the 2025 edition runs well over 40,000 words, or about half the length of the average novel.
Among many excellent GC Powerlist Editions our in-house legal research team produces globally, Legal 500’s Southeast Asia edition is undoubtedly one of the very best we produce, and has been since our first edition in 2015. Since then, we have expanded our contact base through many trips to the region and countless rounds of research to build an unrivalled understanding of the in-house counsel community in this most dynamic of regions.
We have seen the GC role expand in prominence in all countries featured and, while some are relatively new into the development of a corporate counsel ecosystem, others are maturing extremely quickly or, in the case of Singapore, have reached a level of complexity that rivals any other jurisdiction on earth.
The task for our research team therefore gets progressively harder with each new edition, and choosing between who makes it on to the list and who must wait for a future opportunity becomes a decision which requires a huge deal of contemplation.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this edition for their excellent insights, predictions and advice for other corporate counsel. As always, we had some illuminating conversations during the research.
Some of the most interesting discussions featured the theme of strategic thinking; the very best GCs, it is often said, are genuinely strategic in their thinking. But what does this really mean?
Millicent Joie Desiderio – Dime of Accenture puts the emphasis on team building and succession:
‘In my experience, being strategic as a leader means working hard to mentor and build a deep bench of successors, with the ultimate goal of making oneself redundant by cultivating and developing talent, and by creating processes that can adapt to future developments and remain relevant. To me, leaders should discard the “rockstar” mentality. Instead, they should always aim to build a legacy and empower strong, cohesive teams that can, in essence, take over from them when the time comes to move on.’
Suzanne Spells of Capitaland emphasised that those who are truly at the top of their game are able to embed business objectives in to their legal workload.
‘For a General Counsel, being strategic means operating far beyond the boundaries of legal risk management; it’s about embedding legal insight into the core of business decision-making. I do this by aligning legal priorities with corporate objectives, anticipating regulatory shifts, and proactively shaping governance frameworks that support sustainable growth. My strategic lens enables me to identify opportunities where legal innovation can unlock value, streamline operations, and strengthen stakeholder confidence.’
Trisula Dewantara of TikTok spoke about how important a genuine international understanding is for those who operate at multinational companies:
‘For me, it’s being able to step back and look at things from a regional lens. My team may have valuable insights into what’s best to be done in a specific region, but my function as regional lead is to bring things to a regional strategic level – what goes on in one region have a domino effect on others.’
And Julien Bergerat of PRefChem in Malaysia summed up how the modern GC is a whole new game from that of ten years ago:
‘Legal shall position itself as a partner that helps the business navigate uncertainties. It shall not only understand the business but also the strategy of the company to tailor the advice it provides. The role played by the General Counsel and her/his team to contribute to the risk reduction is often underestimated whereas we are playing a leading role by not only mapping legal risks across jurisdictions, business units and functions but also avoiding litigation costs, monitoring legislations and regulatory changes and implementing measures to ensure compliance. Legal Technologies, to that extent, constitute a powerful tool, allowing us to put in place early warning systems to anticipate such legal and compliance threats. Such transformation of the legal function can occur only if it is strategic. The General Counsel must transform the legal function into a strategic risk function to elevate her/his role from reactive compliance to proactive value creation.’
To all those featured, our sincere congratulations. Being named in the GC Powerlist: Southeast Asia 2025 is a mark of distinction, recognising the most forward-thinking, innovative and influential corporate counsel in the region. Legal 500 is honoured to share your stories and celebrate your success.
Joe Boswell
Global editor – GC Powerlist
Legal 500
As part of Legal 500’s GC Powerlist Week, Legal 500 partnered with Jones Day to host an exclusive Breakfast Seminar at the firm’s Singapore office, bringing together 40 of the region’s leading general counsel recognised in the 2025 Southeast Asia GC Powerlist.
The event provided an intimate setting for senior in-house counsel to share insights and best practices while exploring the complex and fast-evolving legal landscape surrounding data protection, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.
The session, titled “Caught in the Acts”, was led by Dr. Undine von Diemar, Partner and Head of Jones Day’s European Cybersecurity, Privacy & Data Protection Practice, and Elizabeth Cole, head of Cybersecurity for Jones Day in Southeast Asia. Together, they examined the implications of recent regulatory developments across Europe and Asia that are reshaping compliance strategies for companies operating in the region.
Undine opened with a deep dive into the EU Digital Agenda, offering clarity on the growing web of digital legislation that now governs data and technology use across Europe. She provided a detailed overview of the AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive risk-based framework for regulating artificial intelligence, alongside the Data Act, NIS2 Directive, and Cyber Resilience Act — each of which introduces new obligations on data sharing, cybersecurity resilience, and operational accountability.
Elizabeth followed with a regional perspective on Asia’s data protection and AI landscape, highlighting the diversity of regulatory approaches across jurisdictions and the increasing pace of legislative change. She discussed key AI developments, including China’s evolving regulatory model and Singapore’s draft Digital Infrastructure Act and AI guidelines, as well as recent enforcement trends demonstrating that regulators in the region are becoming more assertive and coordinated in their oversight.
The event underscored Legal 500 and Jones Day’s commitment to fostering meaningful dialogue among the region’s most influential corporate counsel, providing an invaluable platform for collaboration, learning, and networking within the GC Powerlist community.
