Thought Leaders

IN-HOUSE COMMUNITY THOUGHT LEADERS
We would like to offer our thanks to the following respected senior members of the In-House Community along the New Silk Route for their ongoing guidance and support. (Alphabetically listed).


Based in Singapore, Carlo van den Akker is General Counsel Asia and Country Manager Singapore and Malaysia for NXP Semiconductors Singapore Pte Ltd, in addition to being the company’s Ethics Compliance Officer for Asia. Previously he had a long-standing career at Philips Electronics in Europe and Asia as well as with Shell International. He is a participant of the Economic Strategy Committee (ESC) of the Singapore Government; and was one of co-founders of the Hong Kong Corporate Counsel Association, the Singapore Corporate Counsel Association, and the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.
Evangelos Apostolou is General Counsel for Ernst & Young in Hong Kong. He was previously Vice President and Chief Counsel APAC for BT Global Services. He was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn, is admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, and is a member of the Bar of the Republic of Cyprus. Having begun his career in the law in Cyprus as an Advocate at the local bar, Apostolou subsequently joined Fujitsu Services where he was engaged as European Legal Counsel. He joined BT from Fujitsu Services, initially in the capacity of Senior Counsel in a role supporting BT's Major Transactions' team based in London. Prior to his current appointment, he also established and managed BT's offshore legal captive in India.
Taj Bussadeegarn is Associate General Counsel and Director at True Corporation Public Company Limited, a major communications conglomerate in Thailand. He is a graduate of Thammasat University (LL.B.), the University of Brussels (LL.M., with Cum Laude) and the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) (Course on International Diplomacy). From 1979-1990 he was, successively, Diplomatic Officer attached to: the Treaty and Legal Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Royal Thai Embassy in Bonn, Germany; and the ASEAN Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previous to his current position Khun Taj was a local Partner with Baker & McKenzie in Thailand. His main areas of expertise are in TMT, regulatory, corporate, M&A, anti-trust, construction and contracts.
Chua Lee Ming is General Counsel for the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Pte Ltd (GIC), a position he has held for the past eleven years. He obtained LLB and LLM degrees from the National University of Singapore and Cambridge University respectively and prior to joining the GIC in 1998, he practised as a litigation lawyer with Lee & Lee. Earlier in his career, Chua served in Singapore’s judicial/legal service. He is Vice-President of the Singapore Corporate Counsel Association, and also serves as a member of various other committees including the Inquiry Committee panel under the Legal Profession Act. Chua is also a director of Maxwell Chambers Pte Ltd, Singapore’s integrated dispute resolution complex.
Stefan Gannon is General Counsel and an Executive Director with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). Called to the Bar in England and Wales (Middle Temple) in 1973, he was in private practice before being appointed as an international legal adviser to Midland Bank Plc. Following his move to Hong Kong in 1983, Gannon became the legal adviser to the Monetary Affairs Branch of the Hong Kong Government, and was involved in the establishment of the HKMA in 1993, from which time he has held the role of General Counsel. He is a member of the International Law Association’s Monetary and International Law Sub-Committee, is the Vice Chairman of the Professional Advisory Board of the Asian Institute of International Financial Law, and is a Fellow of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies.
Philip Gu is the General Counsel for Danone China, a position he has held since 1999. Having passed the first national bar exam in 1988, Gu undertook ten years of practice before joining Danone just before the turn of the century. He is the third generation in his family to have embarked on a legal career. Gu also lectures on law at the East China Institute of Politics and Law.
Michael Hancock is Regional General Counsel (MENA) for HSBC. Before joining the bank in May 2005, he was Managing Partner of Lovells’ Tokyo office, and had also worked for the UK firm in its London and Hong Kong offices since qualification. A registered Foreign Attorney in Japan, Hancock has worked continuously in the country since 1994 and is a fluent Japanese speaker. He was formerly the Chairman of the European Business Council's Legal Services Committee.
Roberta Calarese Julfar is a Director and Legislative Counsel with the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). Educated at Warwick University, University College London, and The College of Law, she has vast experience in legal and compliance matters relating to investment banking and brokerage. Earlier in her career, she worked for Goldman Sachs in London before joining ABN AMRO as Global Compliance Officer Emerging Markets where she was responsible for setting up and maintaining relationships with Regulators and Stock Exchanges in emerging markets. She subsequently took on the role of Deputy General Manager with Prudential-Bache, Dubai, where she was responsible for Legal, Compliance and Risk Management. During her 5 years at the DFSA, Julfar has been instrumental in setting up the legal and regulatory framework of the DIFC.
Lily Rozita Khairi is the Managing Counsel for the Downstream, Gas and Power and Shared Services Units with Shell Malaysia Limited. In the 14 years that she has been with Shell, she has worked in several portfolios, having started in Human Resource before moving on to legal portfolios in Upstream, Downstream, Gas and Power and Corporate. Khairi specialises in commercial negotiations and her pet area of interest is in Decommissioning of Upstream Installations. She read law at Cardiff Law School in Wales, and holds a Diploma in Human Resource Management from the Malaysian Institute of Personel Management. She is currently also the Deputy President of the Malaysian Corporate Counsel Association.
Kye Kim is General Counsel and Vice President with Hyundai Rotem. In addition to his legal duties, Kim’s position requires him to undertake an advisory role for the overseas sales and project management division for rolling stock. Kim is a graduate of the Syracuse University College of Law and is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia. After graduation, he worked as a litigation associate at law firms in New York, and subsequently held a corporate role as in-house counsel for Samsung Heavy Industries.
Hilton King is General Counsel – Indonesia with PT Sampoerna Strategic, a diversified and growing Indonesian investment group with interests in palm oil, telecommunications, timber, property, and microfinance. King began his legal career in private practice in Melbourne with Freehills. He also worked in the firm’s Singapore office before joining Indonesian law firm Makarim & Taira S in 1989, commencing a 19 year stint as a ‘foreign legal consultant’ and specialising in project finance, M&A, investment and commercial law. In particular, he focused on the infrastructure, energy & resources, foreign investment, manufacturing and financial services sectors. King represented a number of the early IPPs in Indonesia both through the development phase and later through a restructuring phase following the Asian monetary crisis of the late 1990s, and also acted for successful bidders on several of the early Indonesian Government privatisations.
Joseph P. Longo is General Counsel, Asia (ex-Japan), for Deutsche Bank AG. Based in Hong Kong, Longo’s responsibilities include reputational and regulatory risk matters and sitting on the Bank’s regional governance board. Having graduated from the University of Western Australia Law School and Yale Law School (LLM), he worked for Australian and US-based firms earlier in his career, practising in corporate and commercial litigation and finance, “white collar” defence and contentious regulatory matters. He also held the role of National Enforcement Director at the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, where he was responsible for the coordination of ASIC’s investigation, prosecution and enforcement activities. In May 2006, Longo was appointed to the Listing Committees of the Main Board and the Growth Enterprise Market of the HKSE.
Arshella Mailoa is the Head of Legal Counsel with PT First Media Tbk (First Media), one of the largest broadband communication services providers in Indonesia. Mailoa obtained her law degree from Parahyangan University in Indonesia. She later received a scholarship from the Australian Government to undertake her Masters degree at the University of New South Wales, during which time she also worked for Sydney law firm Potok & Co on a Native Title Representatives Bodies project. Prior to joining First Media in 2006, where she had the responsibility of establishing the company’s legal team, Mailoa worked at Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners where she practised a broad range of capital market, corporate and commercial, tax and trade legal matters and specialised in securities and capital markets.
Adam Malouf is the Chief Operating Officer of Saffar Capital. He was previously Director of Legal for the Arabian Real Estate Investment Trust (AREIT), the first and only real estate investment trust in the Middle East. A qualified Australian lawyer, he graduated from the University of New South Wales and earlier in his career worked for Allens Arthur Robinson and Clayton Utz in their banking and finance, corporate/commercial and commercial litigation practice groups. Prior to joining AREIT two years ago, he also worked for Clyde & Co in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Malouf is responsible for all legal and compliance matters concerning asset acquisitions, asset management, acquisition finance and equity fundraising. He also acts as company secretary and as director and alternate director for several of the AREIT group companies. He is currently the Chairman of the Australian Business Council – Dubai.
Joshua Margolis is a Director & Counsel (Commodities & Futures) with Citibank, N.A. Singapore. Admitted to the New York Bar, Margolis holds Juris Doctor and Master of Laws degrees from Temple University in Philadelphia. He also holds Bachelors degrees in Chinese and Linguistics which he obtained from Georgetown University, and has over 12 years of experience in Asia. Prior to joining Citigroup, Margolis worked in the Global Principal Investment and Secured Financing group at Merrill Lynch, and previously was in private practice at White & Case LLP and at Hwang Mok Park P.C. He had led the legal department for Citigroup’s securities and investment banking business in Korea for almost 5 years.
Yutaka Nakamura is General Counsel of NTT DOCOMO, a position he has held since 2004. He currently sits on the company’s executive committee, advising on strategic decisions. Prior to joining NTT DOCOMO in 1999 as the head of its international legal practice group, Nakamura served as a senior counsel with a leading Japanese manufacturer for 12 years, and throughout his career has gained extensive experience in international M&A and IP licensing projects and dispute resolution, as well as domestic experience in telecommunication regulatory matters. A member of the New York State Bar, he obtained an LLM degree from the University of Washington. He is a member of the examination committee for an education program for Japanese in-house counsel and lectures at Japanese law schools on IP and telecom regulations.
Now an independent consultant, until April 2010 Mysore Prasanna was Group Executive President, Corporate Legal with Aditya Birla Group (ABG). In addition to his general counsel role, which he held since 1998, Prasanna has also been a director on the boards of many of the ABG companies in India and abroad. Holding a Masters degree, he worked as an independent counsel earlier in his career before working in corporate roles for companies including Alfa Laval, Brooke Bond India Limited (now part of Hindustan Unilever), and Larsen & Toubro Limited. A member of various organisations, Prasanna’s current engagements include Advisor to the Managing Committee of the Bombay Chamber, and Vice Chairman of the Corporate Counsel Forum of the International Bar Association. In 2006, he was conferred the “National Law Day” Award by the Prime Minister of India.
Jason Qian is the Head of Legal with Fuji Xerox Greater China, and also manages the legal affairs of Fuji Xerox in the Asia Pacific region. Qian is an Arbitrator of the Shanghai Arbitration Commission and was elected as Councilor of the Shanghai Corporate Counsel Association, and his name is listed in the EU-China Legal and Judicial Cooperation Lawyer Directory. Qian is a Returning Scholar of the British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, an honorary member of the Royal Asiatic Society China in Shanghai, and a committee member of the Cambridge and Oxford Society in Shanghai. He was also granted the Fellowship of the Cambridge Overseas Society.
Mutia Rivayanthi is the Region Counsel for PT Coca-Cola Indonesia. In her role she is covering Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and The Somolon Islands. She graduated from the Law Faculty of Trisakti University in Jakarta, Indonesia in mid 1995, and was admitted to practice as advocate in Indonesia in 2004. Prior to joining PT Coca-Cola Indonesia in 2005, she was working with The Law Offices of Hadiputranto, Hadinoto, and Partners (member of Baker & McKenzie), where she spent 9 years providing professional legal advice to various multinational and national clients from different industries. Her last position was Senior Associate, focusing on General Corporate and Commercial, Information Technology and Telecommunications, and Broadcasting and Entertainment Law practices. She is one of Asian Legal Business 25 Asia’s Pre-eminent In House Counsels - 2007.
Peter Siembab is Managing Director and Associate General Counsel, Global Corporate and Investment Banking for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He was previously the Executive Director at Nomura, heading up the legal team covering the investment banking division in Asia ex-Japan, advising on regulatory developments and equity capital markets, debt capital markets and M&A advisory engagements. Previously, he was with Citigroup where he managed litigation matters for Citi in Asia and, in a prior role, advised Citi´s investment bank on transactional and regulatory matters in the region. Prior to Citi, Peter was in private practice advising on corporate cross-border transactions in Asia at Skadden Arps and advised on communications transactional and regulatory matters at Dow Lohnes & Albertson in Washington DC. Prior to his legal career, Siembab worked at Jim Henson Productions and Showtime Networks on the development and production of motion pictures and television projects and theme park attractions. He graduated cum laude and order of the coif from Loyola Law School Los Angeles and has a degree in cinema-television production from USC.
Kenneth Tung is Legal Director (China) with PepsiCo. Prior to joining PepsiCo in September 2010, he was Director Legal Affairs, Asia Pacific Region with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Previously the Asia Pacific General Counsel for Transportation Systems and Specialty Materials with Honeywell, Tung joined the Goodyear Asia leadership team in 2006 to support its growth across the region, as well as to manage risks in the legal field. His team supports businesses across a diverse geography, with plants and business in over ten countries. Earlier in his career, Tung was engaged in international legal practice in New York following his graduation from Columbia University. He first came to China in 1994 as an associate with international firm Coudert Brothers, before joining Kodak in 1997 where, amongst other things, he was a member of that company’s management team.
Until recently, Jin Wang was the Head of Legal for Shell companies in the Greater China Region. Wang holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California and an LLM in Taxation from New York University School of Law, in addition to an MBA and a Bachelor of Arts, and during his 20 years of professional life has lived in the United States, Hong Kong, Europe and China. Prior to joining Shell, Wang led the Asia Pacific Law Department of a Fortune 100 conglomerate. He also practiced for a number of years in the US and Hong Kong at international law firms including Baker & McKenzie and White & Case. He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Legal Working Group with the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.
Tony Wenas is CEO of PT Inco. Previously to his current position, he was Director and Executive Vice President of Legal, Tax and External Affairs with mining company PT. Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), a subsidiary of Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold. From 2005 – 2006, he was assigned to lead the company’s Government Relations Department in addition to his general counsel role. Wenas obtained a law degree from the University of Indonesia and, before joining PTFI in 2001, gained experienced across various industries including banking, telecommunications, and oil & gas. In 2004, he also served as the acting Chairman of the Indonesia Mining Association and was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Permanent Committee of Mineral Resources of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce. Wenas has been appointed Vice Chairman of the Permanent Committee of Funding and Investment Infrastructure from 2008 – 2013.
Peter Zhang is General Counsel and Board Secretary of Sony Ericsson China, a role which requires him to lead the legal department for Greater China. He has more than 17 years of in-house experience in China, having previously also held corporate positions with Unilever China, Ericsson China and Yahoo China. Zhang holds an LLB and LLM and has also practised in a Hong Kong law firm. Active in legal society, he has participated on various occasions in the drafting of legislation from an industry point of view, and has been active in legislation lobbying. Throughout his career, he has developed experience across a range of areas including M&A, compliance, anti-trust and competition, trade and commerce, litigation and arbitration, risk management and control, commercial negotiation, employment and IP protections.

In-House Community Congresses & Events

Now in their 14th year, the In-House Congress circuit are the events for the In-House Community along the New Silk Route.
To find out more, click on the link below.
» Read Reviews
To register for any immediately upcoming events, click on a link below:

SINGAPORE OUTBOUND SYMPOSIUM 2012

IN-HOUSE CONGRESS DUBAI 2012

Novacourses Online Learning

A selection of the free and CPD acredited courses available at www.novacourses.com
> Course 1
Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in the PRC
click here

> Course 2
Computer Forensics For Legal Professionals
click here