Singapore sets the door ajar

Singapore sets the door ajar

AFTER years of effectively barring foreign law firms from establishing themselves in Singapore, the Singaporean authorities have opened the door for outsiders to come to the local bar. The move, which has drawn criticism from some local law firms, can be seen as part of a wider drive by the mini-state to establish itself as a broad maritime service provider in the region.

Under previous legislation, foreign law firms were limited in their activities in Singapore to advisory roles, and then only on issues relating to their own domestic bar. As a result, though firms such as Ince & Co, Clifford Chance, Sinclair Roche and Temperley, and Holman Fenwick have maintained local offices for a while, they were denied the right of audience before Singapore's courts. In the event of a case being contested in Singapore, Singaporean lawyers needed to be retained.

This is set to change following a government decision in May to allow Singaporean law firms to form joint ventures with foreign companies. But the decree has led to immediate controversy. Only five domestic firms will be allowed to seek such link-ups. Eight had applied by the July 15 deadline. Moreover, not everyone is convinced that the foreign firms should be allowed into the market in the first place. One Singaporean commentator said that the changes had been met with mixed feelings by local lawyers.

What the legislative changes will mean for the maritime bar remains unclear. The Singapore Shipping Association identifies nine domestic law firms with maritime expertise. Four of those - Allen & Gledhill, the Wong Partnership, Drew & Napier, and Colin Ng & Partners - are included among the eight bidding for a foreign tie up. Yet, of the partners each has earmarked - Linklaters (UK), Clifford Chance (UK), Freshfields (UK), and White & Case (USA) respectively - only Clifford Chance has a strong shipping name, while Linklaters and Freshfields have much smaller maritime interests. White & Case does not list maritime or transport law among its practices. None of the outside firms was a member of the Singapore Shipping Association at the time of writing.

Initially, then, there should be little change at the maritime bar in Singapore. This places a question mark against the chances of Singapore achieving its ambition of becoming a significant maritime service hub in Asia. Law is an important ingredient in any maritime service mix and, for Singapore to move forward, it must find a way of attracting more legal business. The joint ventures that are currently on the drawing board will do little to help the city-state in this regard. Singapore has a lot of catching up to do. Even when its new laws take effect, it will be running a three-legged race, while its international competitors, including regional rival Hong Kong, will be entered for the sprint.

It is not all bad news for Singapore, though. According to one local lawyer, Singapore does have a number of accomplished maritime advocates. In particular, the knowledge of finance has increased markedly over the last fifteen years."The expertise in Singapore is comparable to that in London. Fifteen years ago, that probably wasn't the case. Now it definitely is," the lawyer says.

Evidence of the increased expertise comes in the shape of the rise in maritime arbitrations being conducted within the structure of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) in recent years. In 1991, SIAC logged only two arbitrations, both of which were shipping-related. In 1999, the total number of SIAC arbitrations had reached 89, 21 of which were shipping-related.

SIAC's panel of domestic shipping and maritime insurance arbitrators numbers 23. It also has a panel of 71 international arbitrators, whose expertise covers a broad spectrum, comprising construction, engineering, banking, insurance, commercial transactions, and shipping. Its shipping luminaries include Philip Yang and Robin Peard in Hong Kong, Manfred Arnold in New York, and William Tetley in Canada.

Though encouraging, the SIAC figures show that Singapore still has some catching up to do in terms of arbitration. A key handicap is its lack of a substantial domestic fleet. The same can be said about London, but London has history on its side. However, history has also shown that, what Singapore wants, Singapore usually gets.

Big expansion at Wikborg, Rein & Co

WIKBORG, Rein & Co, the international law firm headquartered in Norway, has opened an office in Singapore. Together with the existing office in Kobe, Japan, this latest expansion will enable Wikborg, Rein & Co to serve all the most important areas of Asia. The new office will provide legal services for the entire commercial market but will specialise in shipping. The office will be headed by new resident partner Dag Rømmen.

Rømmen, a qualified Norwegian lawyer and master mariner, joins Wikborg, Rein from Evensen & Co. Evensen & Co will be dissolved. Rømmen has extensive experience in shipmanagement, chartering and shipbroking and has already spent four years practising law in Singapore.

Also joining Wikborg, Rein & Co from Evensen is Tom Haugård Evensen. An experienced shipping lawyer and former name partner of Evensen & Co, he is "universally regarded as a first-class shipping lawyer," according to the latest edition of European Legal 500.

Evensen will join the already strong shipping team at the Oslo office of Wikborg, Rein & Co from 1 September, 2000. Evensen originally joined Wikborg, Rein in 1978, based both in Oslo and Japan. He left in 1988 to set up Evensen & Co.

In addition to these latest expansion plans, Wikborg, Rein & Co is re-organising into six groups based around the activities of its clients - trade/industry, stock exchange and finance, natural resources, technology/media/telecommunications, shipping/ship finance/transport/offshore, and real estate.

As of September, Wikborg, Rein will have a total of 43 partners and about 70 associates in its offices in Oslo, Bergen, London, Kobe and Singapore. Its business reflects the international trading history of Norway and its partners cover the full range of shipping, commercial, insurance and financial law.