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

The legal compliance role at Shopee is exceptional. Apart from traditional legal counsel and compliance responsibilities, we act as a business operation advisory to enhance the effectiveness of business initiatives within the bounds of relevant laws. This role also optimises legal service processes by applying best practices from cross-functional teams, such as project management. Below are some of the cases that the team has recently accomplished.

Integration of business partners services to the platform: Our company culture revolves around being competitive and consumer focused. We prioritise driving business outlook as well as company branding and optimizing human resources and data management across company conglomerates. These involve multiple innovative and challenging initiatives which might be appealing to the market but could bring about potential legal risks and disputes. Thus, the team provides legal advice, liaises with external legal counsel, and conducts ongoing market research to identify the best solutions to implement projects while upholding legal standards. We also developed risk management plans for such projects to mitigate any potential risks towards the company.

International platform: As an international company with entities in various countries, expanding seller gross merchandise value is achieved by an international selling program that enables cross-border access to international products. This program allows local buyers to purchase products from Shopee sellers in other countries, fostering a global marketplace. Apart from the contractual relationship, legal structure, and concern on e-service tax perspective, Legal Compliance also takes a further step to ensure the seamless execution of this initiative while considering potential dispute cases involving regulators, particularly Thai Office of Consumer Protection Board.

Fintech products: These products play an important part in this industry. We regularly address regulations relating to the integration of such products into the e-commerce platform. Whether it involves digital lending, e-payment, e-wallet, insurance, or other related products, our team ensures that business initiatives are compliant with relevant regulations, especially those governed by the Bank of Thailand and electronic transaction guidelines.

What are some of the main trends impacting the industry sector you work in in Thailand?

The e-Commerce industry has experienced significant growth over the past few years. However, a range of factors have contributed to a recent downtrend in this sector, including shifts in consumer behaviour, concerns regarding security, challenges in logistics and supply chain management, the collapse of reputable banks globally, and regulatory challenges. With regulators placing greater emphasis on the rising trend of e-commerce, proactive measures like new regulations and compliance requirements impose substantial costs and resource allocation as well as operational complexities for businesses.

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

In the dynamic e-commerce landscape, the legal compliance team is tasked with managing both business initiatives and dispute resolution. This often entails the need for rapid task completion. A crucial skill in this context is adaptive working process management; strategically determining the approach to these tasks and developing efficient plans, considering existing resources and leveraging innovative tools. Once a standard operating procedure has been established, it is essential to provide adjustable guidelines for the team and relevant stakeholders in other functions. These guidelines ensure consistent and effective execution in plausible future cases.

Based on my extensive collaboration with the business side, I strongly believe modern in-house legal teams should not merely adhere strictly to relevant regulations. Instead, they must possess a profound understanding of how the business operates and effectively manage the expectations of regulators. Given that Thai laws may not consistently align with global trends, in-house lawyers should empathise with the perspectives of business functions. This enables them to innovatively create new precedents that address business requirements with practical solutions. Moreover, it is undeniable that regulators play a crucial role and can significantly impact business decisions. Therefore, fostering a strong relationship with regulators would be highly beneficial to enhance the company’s position, manage potential risks that may arise and influence business operations.