In-House Insight with Terence Fernando of Coca-Cola

July 12, 2023
On how legal teams are evolving and how embracing technology and fostering safe environments build better businesses What Inspired You To Transition From Private Practice To Public Service And Then Back To The Private Sector? How Did Each Experience Shape Your Legal Career? After passing the bar, I started working in a law firm because I thought that was where you learned the practice of law. For about four years, I was fortunate enough to work for a retired Supreme Court Justice. I picked up a lot of learnings, just by watching him argue and examine witnesses in court, drafting pleadings for him, riding in the car and talking about case strategy, oral arguments, and all the hard work that accompanies case preparation. Thereafter, I was appointed as a special prosecutor. My job was investigating and prosecuting erring government officials. Working for the government has its own opportunities and challenges, but I learned so much about the inner workings of the government, how the local and national government agencies creates its budget, advance its policies and laws, and provide public services. Of course, I was also able to see the not-so-good side as well, such as inefficiency and corruption. After five years, I thought I was ready to move on and I transferred to become an in-house counsel. This is where I truly felt I belonged, and I have been in this space for over twelve years now. For me, having a deep understanding of the business is key to being successful in an in-house role, as well as having effective leadership and communication skills. Each of my work...

How to Harness an Agile and Innovative Mindset During Periods of Change or Uncertainty

December 20, 2022
Whilst we all appreciate the importance of a productive and creative mindset, it can be challenging to resist the urge to default to old habits or conservative thinking in uncertain times. As we face questions about the global economy and consider the impact of major market disruptors, we wanted to look at how one can remain agile, effective and even opportunistic, both individually and as a team.  Stephanie Szeto, Head of Asia for Peerpoint, Allen & Overy’s flexible resourcing business, spoke to Sarah Millson, a senior learning and development consultant with Actualize Hong Kong, and Stacy Lopez, a certified professional career and transition coach and member of Peerpoint’s consultant management team, about some of these themes. “The fight or flight part of the brain sometimes sees change as a perceived danger and we often pull from previous experiences when reacting in response to it.” Stephanie: Change in the face of uncertainty can cause people and organizations to react with conservatism, caution and even anxiety. How do we develop an open and opportunistic mindset in the face of change? Stacy: My career has taken a number of different turns and something that I have learned, and which was a real game-changer for me, is that “Everything is an opportunity”. When we are faced with change and discomfort, that is in fact how we grow. So, ask what the potential opportunity is, what are you meant to learn and how are you going to grow and move forward?  The fight or flight part of the brain sometimes sees change as a perceived danger and we often pull from previous experiences when...

In-House Insights with Francesca Gori of Accenture Legal

December 15, 2022
Cultivating purpose-driven values in-house to better serve clients and communities 1. WHAT GENERAL TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING EMERGE IN THE WORK OF ACCENTURE AND YOUR LEGAL TEAM ACROSS GROWTH MARKETS, OR BELIEVE WILL IN THE NEAR FUTURE? Every business is a digital business, with technology changing how we live, work and build relationships; it is a powerful enabler. The pandemic accelerated this change, including how we provide legal services. With a team of around 3,000 people worldwide, Accenture Legal is one of the biggest in-house legal teams globally – this means we have both the capacity and imperative to lead the change in the legal industry. One area we have focused on that I see being a key area of impact for the wider industry is the use of Artificial Intelligence to gain insights from millions of contracts and chatbots to create a seamless user experience. “Every business is a digital business, with technology changing how we live, work and build relationships; it is a powerful enabler.” This approach, as well as the use of big data for compliance and smart, customized dashboards to facilitate strategic reviews, allows our people to be at their best, focus on the right priorities and decrease repetitive work. 2. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE CULTURE AND VALUES OF ACCENTURE AND HOW THESE MAY BE BOTH SHAPED BY AND SHAPE THE COUNTRIES IN WHICH YOU WORK? The team is helping to build a diverse pipeline and increase representation by establishing a legal internship program for female nationals of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. One of our Saudi legal interns subsequently secured an...

In-House Insights with Dr Vincent Ng of AEON

September 21, 2022
On working with passion and prioritising balance PLEASE CAN YOU GIVE US A LITTLE BACKGROUND INTO THE BUSINESS OF AEON CO. (M) BHD. IN MALAYSIA? AEON Co. (M) Bhd. (“AEON”) is a part of the AEON group of companies in Malaysia which is owned by its parent company, AEON Co. Ltd., based in Japan. AEON was set up on 15 September 1984, in response to the Malaysian Government‘s invitation to help modernise the country’s retail industry. AEON currently manages and operates 28 AEON malls, a retail chain of 34 AEON departmental stores, 9 AEON Maxvalu Prime supermarkets, 65 AEON Wellness pharmacies and 41 Daiso flat-price outlets with an extensive range of products such as daily essentials, household items, apparel, pharmaceuticals, flat-price items and other merchandise. AEON also offers Personal Shopper Services, DriveThru Services and Delivery Services via its myAEON2go e-commerce platform for fast, efficient and minimal contact shopping for its customers. In line with AEON’s “Customer First” policy, we endeavour to surpass our customers’ expectations and enhance their shopping experience with us. NOW, ON TO YOUR BACKGROUND – WHAT WERE YOUR STEPPING STONES TO REACHING THE POSITION OF HEAD OF LEGAL AT AEON, AND WHAT HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THIS ROLE BEEN LIKE THUS FAR? I was admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in 1994. I hold a Bachelor and Master of Laws degree and obtained my Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) in 2016. I was a practicing lawyer before joining AEON as the Legal Manager in 2000. From my accumulation of legal and retail experiences at AEON, I was entrusted the current...

Reimagining Business as Usual: Royal Golden Eagle and Rose Kong give a Masterclass on Sustainability

September 21, 2022
Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) Group, based in Singapore and managing a global collective of resource manufacturing companies, is looking to do things a little differently. Where other corporates are being lambasted for their “green-washing” of brown business, RGE has created a foundation of sustainability through the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into their core business model. RGE’s philosophy is underpinned by the 5Cs concept: operating in a way that is good for the Community, Country, Climate, Customer and, in turn, good for the Company. Rose Kong, Chief Legal Officer at RGE and leader of a global team of more than 100 lawyers, is responsible for RGE’s global legal, corporate governance and compliance activities and policies. She shares some thoughts on RGE’s green ambitions and the role she plays in this mission. Give me an overview of your role as in-house counsel in the Energy & Natural Resources sector. My first priority is to protect the interests of the shareholders and RGE group, from a legal point of view. However, besides advising on legal issues, we also provide advice from the ethics perspective. When I was called to the Bar more than 3 decades ago, part of my oath was to uphold justice. Thus, although there are commercial and legal imperatives to consider, an overarching priority is to ensure that we are doing the right thing as a business, so that our different business groups can have a positive impact on climate, nature and the communities that they operate in. This provides enormous job satisfaction. I feel fortunate to be able to work for an organisation where what...

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,...