Articles in this Report: Liberalisation of the legal services market; Beyond the loss-gain binary; Singapore law as the ‘law of choice’; The battle for Singapore lawyers

Beyond the loss-gain binary: Singapore vs Hong Kong and cementing Singapore’s place in the world

Pang Eng Fong, professor of management at Singapore Management University, once wrote that Singapore and Hong Kong were like twins, each competing for what the other has, each wanting what the other wants – essentially jostling for the same delicious treat from the jar. It is a story that has as much to do with geography as it does with a rich shared history. And while Hong Kong may always be the yardstick against which the state of the Singapore legal market is measured, the firms to which ALB spoke saw liberalisation as the perfect opportunity for Singapore to transcend the limitations of this competition and cement its place in the international legal market. 

“The competition with Hong Kong is not the be all and end all; it’s a stepping stone for Singapore in finding its place on the world stage,” says Tan Peng Chin, managing director of Tan Peng Chin LLC. “We are quite developed as a regional hub, so the next step is to catch up with the money centres of the world: the New Yorks and Londons. We may be a step behind them but we can easily do it.” 

The stepping stone, it seems, is to tap into the closed Indian market while continuing to establish credentials as the regional arbitration hub. 

“What we are competing for, which Hong Kong cannot compete for, is India,” says Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow managing principal Wong Kien Keong. He adds that favourable bilateral relations between the two will only serve to increase the flow of work, in both directions, in the years ahead. “India loves Singapore.” 

“I expect that we will continue to see transactions coming from India in terms of M&A, foreign fundraising, project finance and infrastructure investment over the coming years,” says Ng Wai King, a partner at WongPartnership. His firm is already active in a number of high-profile India-related deals, particularly in the M&A, REIT and property-related sectors.

Source: Reserve Bank of India

 “The Indian market could generate a lot of work for medium and small firms alike and it’s only likely to increase as the Indian government reiterates its commitment to economic and legal liberalisation,” says Phillipe Taverne, partner at Cotty Vivant Marchisio & Lauzeral. So much so that Taverne notes the need to establish India desks in his firm’s Singapore and China offices.

But as much as Singapore will reap the benefits of increased transactional activity in India, Singapore firms will also play a large part in improving standards in the Indian legal market through knowledge and practice transfer, and ensuring adherence to international best practices.

“Of course, we will always have an educative role to play in the region,” says Prof. Steve Ngo, managing director, Adler Centre for Dispute Resolution, and secretarygeneral of the Trisakti Institute of Arbitration, Trisakti University, Jakarta. “This in itself is important in establishing Singapore’s regional and international profile.”

Leading local firms are well aware of what they have to offer the Indians in this regard. “Being able to offer clients access to sophisticated Singapore dispute resolution mechanisms is also very important,” notes Thio Shen Yi of TSMP. “In environments like so many in our region where legal frameworks are still developing and a little bit unpredictable, clients can rest a little easier if they know we have the ability to deal with commercial issues.”

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