In-House Insights from Penny Koo of AIA

July 18, 2022
Winning words from IHC’s In-House Counsel of the Year, 2021.   1. Can you please give us a snapshot of your career journey thus far? This will be my 10th year with AIA, the largest independent publicly-listed Pan Asian insurance group. Like many general counsel, I started my legal career in private practice. My main specialisation was in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). I’ve advised on transactions ranging from take-overs of SGX-listed companies to offshore investments by PRC state-owned enterprises in the course of my career in practice. A key turning point in my career was when I moved to Hong Kong in 2012 for my first in-house role. This was with AIA Group’s joint venture with Discovery Group, the largest insurer in South Africa. We were one of the first insurers in Asia to venture into the health and wellness space – the start of a strategic shift into helping our customers not only protect well, but live well. My portfolio was also a unique blend of business and legal, as I was both Head of Partnerships Development and General Counsel. That subsequently led to a different role within the AIA Group Legal team, and finally to my current General Counsel role with AIA Singapore. 2. With over 5 years under the belt as General Counsel of AIA Singapore, what has the term “GC” come to mean to you? “General” means this role is a generalist one. Besides in-depth specialist legal knowledge in your organisation’s primary business activities, the GC must also have the ability to spot issues across a broad domain of laws that may also affect the business – from employment,...

Getting to know Sesto Vecchi of Russin & Vecchi, Vietnam

July 15, 2022
Insights into the evolving landscape of Vietnam from an American lawyer who calls the country his home 1. While originally qualified in the USA, you have over 35 years of experience working in Vietnam. Can you please walk us through your journey to Asia and some career highlights from your years working on the continent? I came to Asia and Vietnam in 1964 as a Lieutenant in the US Navy.  When my Navy service ended, I remained in Vietnam for nearly 10 years until the end of the war.  I was already a lawyer and I, along with several other Americans, started a law firm with several offices.  I practiced in our Saigon office until 1975 when the war ended.  Our clients in Vietnam were Vietnamese, American, French and other foreign companies.  There were individuals as well.  Everything we did had an overlay involving the war. To be sure, it was an exciting time.  I married Camille Cam Van. By then I felt very comfortable in Asia, and I knew I would remain. I lived and practiced law with our firm in Thailand and in New York during the next 15 years. I returned to Vietnam and reopened our office in the early 1990s.  We have grown with the country, and I believe that we have been able to contribute to its growth. There are now many more complex financings, larger sums are involved, and there are more investments into companies that provide energy, healthcare, education. Vietnamese companies have begun to list abroad. 2. As a named partner of Russin & Vecchi, recognised as a top law firm in Vietnam, you will have...

In-House Insights with Chung Jin Chung of KOGAS

June 20, 2022
Tell us about your professional background and why you’ve chosen in-house roles for most of your career thus far, as opposed to private practice. I’m currently a senior legal counsel at Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS). KOGAS is one of the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) importers in the world, with imports topping US$20 billion every year, making it also one of the largest private companies in the world. I joined KOGAS in 2017. When I joined the team, there were only a few U.S qualified lawyers to deal with more than 20 projects in the world. So, it has been very adventurous to build up the team until now. I started my career in private practice at Kim & Chang in South Korea, before moving to the contract department of SK Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd from 2011 to 2016, also spending some time at its Canadian subsidiary, Sunlake Co. Ltd, as a general counsel. I made this move to in-house as, while I did a lot of corporate work, including M&A, while at Kim & Chang, I always wanted to contribute my legal skills and knowledge for South Korea. As a country, South Korea is 94% dependent on imports in natural resources; we just don’t have energy, gas and oil here. So, I decided to focus my career on the energy sector. South Korea is also a little different from other places. Energy companies in Korea, including private companies and public companies like state owned enterprises (SOEs), don’t often give legal work to Korean law firms due to lack of experience. They usually instruct international law firms and...

In-House Insights with Linda Mouaz of Nestlé MENA

April 28, 2022
On leaving comfort zones and finding opportunities in times of change   Q: Tell Us About Your Professional Background, Giving An Overview Of Experience As Both External And In-House Counsel. I hold a master’s degree in Business Law, University of Paris II Panthéon – Assas (Paris – France), and a postgraduate degree in Corporate & Tax Law, University of Paris IX Dauphine (Paris – France). I was a member of the Paris and Luxembourg Bars. Prior to joining Nestlé MENA, I worked for nine years as a lawyer at leading law firms and as in-house legal counsel for multinational groups headquartered in Paris and Luxembourg. I have gained considerable experience in advising, both as an external and as an in-house counsel, on all areas of business law with a focus on the legal considerations of mergers, acquisitions, cross-border acquisitions, corporate restructurings and commercial transactions. I am currently the Head of Legal & Compliance of Nestlé for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market (covering 19 countries). Based in Dubai, I advise on all areas of business law with a focus on commercial, contracts, corporate matters, antitrust, corporate governance and compliance. Q: You Have Built A Career Across Multiple Jurisdictions And Now, As Head Of Legal And Compliance Of Nestlé – Mena Market, You Manage A Practice Area Equally Traversing Borders. What Challenges And Opportunities Have These Experiences Provided You? In-house lawyers, like other functions, are not immune from the human tendency to “do what you know” rather than “do what the job demands.” When I decided to relocate abroad, I was leaving my comfort zone as I would...

The Role of the In-House Lawyer Amidst the Rising Tide of ESG Regulations

March 9, 2022
  Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are fast making their way into mainstream business and investment consciousness. Far from being the cherry-on-top of an otherwise good company, these criteria are increasingly becoming part and parcel of business practice. Pressure to adopt ESG standards has come from consumers and a growing responsible investment community, as well as the expansion of governmental and regulatory requirements. These standards create the framework for all stakeholders, including lawyers, to assess the sustainability and ethical practices of a company when reporting on such company or in making investment decisions. Indicative of this trend toward increased ESG focus, in late November 2021, the Hang Seng Indexes Company launched a new index in which socially responsible considerations sit up front and center – the HSI ESG Screened Index (HSI ESG). This index applies ESG principles to the standard Hang Seng Index (HSI), with constituents screened for compliance against the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Principles as well as for involvement in controversial product. Focus on ESG criteria has thus come a long way from being about feel-good investment choices; these factors are now regulated and widely tracked. More than this, however, focus on companies adhering to ESG principles may well make financial sense. In comparing the performance of the HSI ESG to the HSI from the base date of the former, 7 December 2018, to present we see that the HSI ESG actually outperforms the market standard – and by a relatively long way. As Mark D. Schroeder, Strategic Advisor to the Governance Solutions Group , put it, ESG frameworks help us assess the impact of...

Q&A with Reski Damayanti, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Unilever Indonesia

March 6, 2022
Q: Tell Us A Little About Your Professional Background And How You Came To Be In Your Current Role? I started my career as a lawyer specializing in capital markets, banking and corporate. After 5 years in private practice, I moved in-house, starting in a local pharma company, followed by P&G and Heinz, before joining Unilever Indonesia 6 years ago as the senior legal person. My experience in Unilever includes partnering for the Home Care business in SEAA for about 3 years, before taking on a new responsibility in 2020 as the corporate secretary (Unilever Indonesia is a major publicly listed company in Indonesia). I’m currently the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Unilever Indonesia. Q: How Big Is Your Team And How Is It Structured? Unilever Indonesia is a USD 2.5 billion company. There are 5 senior lawyers that directly report to me and 1 junior lawyer, with agile working principles, supporting the senior lawyers. We also have 1 senior compliance person leading the business integrity agenda. Our legal team may be lean compared to other companies of the same size. The idea for this structure is for the in-house counsel to take more strategic roles, so as to create more value for our business partners. Q: What Are The Biggest Challenges Facing In-House Lawyers Today? The biggest challenge is to integrate more into the business, becoming a risk artisan while still working within the boundaries. This is a real challenge because, as lawyers, we are used to precedents which have trained us to be prepared for the worst-case scenario of certain issues. We also often separate ourselves...