The Asian Business Law Institute will help industries like pharmaceuticals deal with numerous regulations wherever they operate, as rules usually differ from country to country, making it costly for firms to navigate. By Nicole Tan
SINGAPORE: The Asian Business Law Institute was launched Thursday (Jan 21) to help streamline rules and facilitate cross-border business, as regional economies become more integrated.
The institute will help industries like pharmaceuticals deal with numerous regulations wherever they operate. The rules usually differ from country to country, making it costly for firms to navigate, particularly when trying to set up new businesses and transact across borders.
"In today's business world, it's quite clear that many significant transactions will take place in more than one jurisdiction,” said Mr Lee Eng Beng, managing partner of Rajah & Tann. “The cost of compliance, and cost of getting requisite approvals from each of the regulatory agencies in each of these jurisdictions, all of that cumulatively add up to a lot of cost, management time, and a lot of effort on the part of businesses which are trying to cross borders."
The institute, set up by the legal community in several Asian countries, will be based in Singapore and led by a Board of Governors comprising of senior judges and legal professionals from Singapore, Australia, China and India.
The Board will be supported by an Advisory Board whose membership will reflect a wide range of stakeholder interests.
PLATFORM TO FIND SOLUTIONS
The institute aims to be a platform for lawyers, businesses and policymakers to find solutions to legal obstacles that impede business flows.
"The idea is to promote pragmatic, practical solutions,” said Mrs Lee Suet Fern, managing partner of Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC and chairperson of the Singapore Academy of Law Steering Committee. “It will do so in many different ways. Some of it is just through creating that conversation, hearing the voices, sharing experiences. Some of it is through trying to develop models that parties can adopt to simplify trade and commerce in the region. But throughout, the approach will be through policymakers, through business practitioners, to leaders in the industry."
Research done at the institute is aimed at developing practical policy recommendations for the Asian context. It plans to issue regular publications such as best practices guides, or practitioners' handbooks on selected topics.
FOCUSING ON CONVERGENCE OF LAWS
The institute said it plans to focus on the convergence of laws in areas such as enforcement of foreign judgements and data privacy. It also hopes to develop a document that defines common standards for contracts.
"Such a common reference frame could function as a powerful tool to aid commercial parties from different legal systems to speak the same contractual language, thus enabling them to structure their agreements from a common understanding,” said Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, who is also president of the Singapore Academy of Law.
“Moreover, by melding together contractual principles from different legal cultures, the common points of reference might also be the catalyst to bring about changes or refinements to existing domestic legislation in various jurisdictions."
Going forward, the institute plans to establish partnerships with other international institutions and promote its work to policy-makers.
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