Professionals

Overview

Wai Keong Shum joined the firm in February 2021. Prior to this, he was an in-house counsel at a Fortune Global 500 IT and management consultancy company, where he led the regulatory and compliance team for Southeast Asia and South Korea. Wai Keong advised on a broad range of issues including anti-corruption & bribery, competition law, data privacy, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, immigration & employment, and responsible business & corporate transparency matters such as human rights, modern slavery, inclusion & diversity and environmental sustainability.

Prior to that, Wai Keong was a dispute resolution lawyer with Baker McKenzie in Singapore. His practice focused primarily on international commercial arbitration across diverse industries including oil & gas, mining, infrastructure, technology, automobile and property development. He also acted and advised on commercial litigation, compliance, internal investigations and insolvency matters. He also spent considerable time on Indonesian matters and was seconded to Baker McKenzie's office in Indonesia.

 

Practice Focus

Wai Keong's practice focuses on international arbitration, compliance and fraud investigations.

 

Representative Clients, Cases or Matters

• Representing a Hong Kong coal company in ICC proceedings commenced against a Swiss multinational commodities company for breach of agreements to supply Indonesian coal governed by Singapore law involving disputed sums in excess of US$11 million.

• Representing a major US-based coal company in ICC proceedings against its India-based coal supplier over disputes concerning the quality of coal delivered. 

• Representing a South Korean oil and gas company in SIAC proceedings commenced by its Indonesian joint venture partner for breaches of an equivalent interest agreement relating to a US$65 million contribution to the former's participating interest in a farmout agreement for the exploration and production of oil and gas in East Java, Indonesia

• Representing a major Indonesian tyre manufacturer in ICC proceedings brought by a Dubai tyre supplier for breach of a supply contract governed by Indonesian law. The dispute concerns investigations into contracts of sale concluded by an unauthorized agent.

• Representing a US-based global car rental operator in ICC proceedings with its Indian franchisee for breach of a licensing agreement governed by Indian law to adopt the former's business systems involving disputed sums in excess of US$23 million.

• Representing a major South East Asian state-owned car manufacturer in SIAC proceedings with its Chinese joint venture partner for breaches of a US$45 million joint venture agreement governed by Chinese law. The dispute concerns issues relating to Chinese national policy on the entry of foreign investments into China.

• Representing a South Korean global energy and resources operator in SIAC proceedings commenced by a German steel manufacturer for breaches of an agency agreement governed by Singapore law. The dispute concerns back-to-back guarantees for the release of certain monies and breach of fiduciary duties.

• Representing an Indonesian coal company in SIAC proceedings commenced by a Swiss multinational commodities company for claims in excess of US$17.5 million for breaches of a supply contract governed by English law. The dispute concerns issues related to Indonesian domestic laws, force majeure and illegality

 

Compliance, regulatory and other matters

• Advising and managing risks arising from potential collusion and breaches of competition and procurement rules relating to a client's bid for a US$300 million digital transformation of a major Southeast Asian sovereign wealth fund.

• Setting up and project managing a Chinese client's internal compliance advisory committee, which is responsible for catalysing and overseeing all significant regulatory and compliance matters in China.

• Coordinating and project managing the establishment of strategic fit-for-purpose entities for a client in Singapore, China and Malaysia to support various business expansions and client deals.

• On-the-ground management of unannounced dawn raids of a client's Seoul and Singapore offices by tax and manpower regulatory authorities.

• Advising on the regulatory and compliance aspects on strategic client deals including: 

  • setting up an SPV to service a global trading and logistics company based in Malaysia in a US$200 million deal;

  • a US$40 million business process consulting deal with a major Southeast Asian state-owned oil and gas company;

  • a business process outsourcing deal worth US$160 million across Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Japan with one of the world's largest pulp and paper companies based in Indonesia; 

  • a collaboration agreement between an Irish and a Korean consulting company to enable the Irish company to continue to operate in Korea after the sale of their local operations.

 

Publications, Presentations and Articles

• Speaker, ALB Southeast Asia Anti-Corruption Forum – Conducting Effective Risk Management and Monitoring Prior to New Investments in Asia and High Risk Countries (Aug 2019) 

• Speaker, Lexology Live – Cybersecurity: What Constitutes a Reasonable Corporate Response (Feb 2019)

• Speaker, Norton Rose Fulbright Singapore & Hong Kong – The Impact of Modern Slavery Laws: Addressing Human Rights Issues In Corporate Operations and Supply Chains in Asia (Oct 2018)

 

Professional Affiliations

Wai Keong is member of the Law Society of Singapore and the Singapore Academy of Law

 

Education and Admission

Wai Keong received his LLB from the National University of Singapore. He is qualified to practice in Singapore.

 

Languages

-     English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Bahasa Indonesia, Malay