Team size: 13

What are the most significant cases, projects, or transactions that you and your legal team have recently been involved in?

Digitalisation is no longer a “good-to-have” strategy but it has turned into a “must-have” strategy for all companies, so Shinhan Vietnam Finance Company Limited (“SVFC”) also has various initiatives to do so. I and my Legal team have been proactively involving in all discussions for those initiatives to provide on-the-spot legal advice and assistance.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

As the Head of Legal & Compliance Division of SVFC, I must (and procure my teams to) be proactive in monitoring and updating any changes in both legal regulations (even from the stage of giving comments on draft regulations) and global economy. With sufficient information from both aspects, I and my teams can take into consideration any potential instability or crisis, be more well prepared and so make our legal advice and assistance more practical.

What strategies do you employ to ensure the successful digital transformation of a legal department while maintaining compliance with your country’s data protection laws?

First of all, having a full and deep understanding about the data protection requirements is the must before starting any digital transformation of any part of my Legal & Compliance Division, so I and all of my team members must carefully read, internally discuss and jointly conclude on the most appropriate interpretation of those requirements. Secondly, for any idea of digital transformation, I have to analyse such idea from all legal, compliance, information risk and operational risk perspectives and then debate them with my teams and other relevant units of the company (for example, IT Department) to ensure that we have identify and analyse as many potential risks and issues as possible before proceeding the submission for CEO’s final approval on that idea and then implementation.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

First of all, an in-house counsel always plays critical role in ensuring the company’s compliance with laws and also in promoting and expanding the company’s business, so any in-house counsel must be business oriented and provide practical and commercially sense legal advice. Secondly, in-house counsel should proactively discuss and brainstorm with business units in any business idea to provide on-the-spot legal advice and to properly and legally structure such business idea, not sitting in his/her own office and waiting for business units to approach and seek for legal advice.