Welcome to the Thailand In-House Legal Summit 2016

 
Date: Wednesday 16th March 2016
Time: 9:00am- 5:30pm
Venue: 
INTERCONTINENTAL BANGKOK
973 Phloen Chit Road
Bangkok 10330
Thailand

ALB have been bringing together in-house counsels, legal practitioners and industry experts for years, providing them with an unbiased forum to discuss regulatory changes and best practice solutions. And for the first time, our well established in-house legal summit is coming to Thailand! The inaugural Thailand In-House Legal Summit 2016 will deliver exclusive case studies, extended networking and a platform to discuss regional developments in energy reform, the Trans Pacific Partnership and cross border M&A.

  • Keep up to date on the Thailand’s latest regulatory changes including the implications of the Trans Pacific Partnership and Energy Reform Act
  • Combat the cost of corruption with robust regulatory compliance and anti-corruption frameworks
  • Understand how to work effectively with CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia & Vietnam) in the cross border focus sessions
  • Transform your in-house legal team from cost saving to value adding by repositioning yourself as a strategic business partner

Delegates will hear from inspirational industry leaders from a variety of practice areas on streamlining anti-corruption and anti-bribery training programmes, managing a legal department as a high performing business, effectively implementing cross-border data transfers plus much more...

Agenda for the Thailand In-House Legal Summit 2016

 09:00

 Opening Remarks from the Chairperson 

09:15Facing the Future: Understanding How the Shifting Global and Regional Economy will Impact Thailand's In-House Counsel

 

  • Understanding amendments to the Civil and Commercial Code (CCC) and Business Collateral Act- how will these affect your business?
  • Examining the net positive of foreign direct investment in the region, including tax incentives for specific economic zones (SEZ’s), relaxation of work permits and strategic plan for public-private partnership (PPP)
  • Will the Trans Pacific Partnership have a negative effect on Thailand’s competitiveness? Preparing for a decrease in foreign investment
09:30

Managing the Legal Department as a High Performing Business- How In-House Counsel Can Stay Ahead of the Curve

 
  • Communicating legal issues in a large business context; minimizing the tensions that sometimes exist between “business” and “legal”
  • Effectively interacting with and managing outside counsel
  • How can in-house teams be innovative in their role, and what does innovation mean for an in-house lawyer?
  • Transforming from a legal advisor to a business strategist including career progression options and advice for in-house counsel
  • SWOT analysis- how well positioned is your team as a potential strategic business partner? 
Moderator:
Julien Pochet, General Counsel & Ethics Officer, Asia Pacific - ENGIE

Panelists:

Jackson K Pek, Vice President & General Counsel,  Asia Pacific – Amadeus IT Group
Katja Fenton, ASEAN Legal Counsel – BlueScope Global Buildings Solutions
Nathalie MirkovicHead of Contracts, Bid Approvals & Commercial Management– Bombardier Transportation
Rijuta Mishra, Head of Legal – Payment Express Ltd.

10:45Morning Break and Networking 

11:15

A New Era in Japan—Thailand Relations: How Recent Changes Could Affect Cross Border Investment Activities Between the Countries and Would Impact Thailand’s In-House Legal Counsel

 

  • Insight into recent legislative changes and economic situations in Japan: how will they impact inbound investments by Japanese Corporates into Thailand
  • Are there any opportunities in Japan? What Thai companies should know about outbound Japanese investments 
  • Bridging compliance gaps between two countries; ensuring Thailand’s in-house legal counsel is aware
Takashi Toichi, Partner – Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
11:45

Addressing and Overcoming M&A Difficulties: From Vietnam to Thailand

 
  •  Examining market trends and the outlook for Asia Pacific M&A in 2016: how will global developments impact regional activities?
  •  Understanding  the impact of new investment laws in Vietnam and considering their legal implications
  • How will the TPP affect market access for foreign investors? What impact will it have on cross-border trade?

Oliver Massmann, General Director – Duane Morris Vietnam LLC

12:30Lunch Break 
13:30

Can Whistle-Blowing Work in Thailand? According to Daimler, It Can! 

 

There is a widely held belief that whistle-blowing cannot work in Thailand due to deeply held cultural issues that one person cannot speak out against another without negative repercussions. But in Daimler, that is not the case. In 2006 Daimler set up a whistle-blower system and have not only improved their internal compliance, but also improved employee loyalty

  • Identifying misconduct early to and investigating severe breaches in a fair manner
  • Working within the local data protection laws to ensure reports remain anonymous
  • Controlling bribery, breaches of antitrust law and violations of accounting regulations before they cause severe company damage

Methat Anansiriwong,Senior Manager: Compliance & Internal ControlMercedes-Benz (Thailand) Ltd.

14:15

 Combating Corruption: Identifying and Managing Legal Risk in an International Environment

 
  • Identify and managing  legal risk : commercial contracts/disputes, business interruption, communications, fraud and overseas subsidiaries
  • Increase in globalization and regulation
  • Devising clear anti-bribery policies and controls to ensure employees can distinguish between legitimate entertainment and misconduct – FCPA/ UK Bribery Act
  • Going global, acting local; how Thailand’s legal services fit with global business objectives
  • How to get the most from external counsel: managing the risks of legal costs effectively
14:45Afternoon Break and Networking 
15:15

 Legal Integrity, Ethics and Business Compliance

 
  • Establishing core values and ethics throughout the business – a top down vs. bottom up approach
  • Driving the compliance process holistically to maximize time effectiveness
  • Developing a culture of trust and transparency and foster a “speak up” culture within your business
  • Creating a code of conduct and clearly articulating compliance procedures within the business

Panelists:

Jeanette Estes,Asian Chief Compliance Officer – General Electric
Desarack Teso – Director, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft Thailand Ltd.
Julawut Kanaruk, Head of Legal Services – Panasonic Management (Thailand) Co. Ltd

16:30

 Closing Remarks from the Chairperson 

 16:45End of Conference  

Speakers at Thailand In-House Legal Summit 2016

Dr. Dhadchyarbhon Abhimontejchbud 

Director of Agreement Merchandise

Administration and Trade Measures Division

Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce

After completion of the Doctoral Degree in International Business, he was the lecturer in universities for 4 years, gaining a thorough advance of knowledge in Business and the multilateral trading system.

With his extensive background as the trade officer at the Department of Trade Negotiation, Ministry of Commerce for 12 years, before moving to theBureau of Trade Interests and Remedies at the Department of Foreign Trade, Dr. Dhadchyarbhon is currently the Director of AgreementMerchandise Administration and Trade Measures Division, specialised in Trade Management of Dual-use Items (TMD). His vision aims to facilitatetrade and to ensure that business environment flows as stably, smoothly and freely as possible.


 

Methat Anansiriwong
Senior Manager: Compliance & Internal Control
Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) Ltd.                                                                                                                                                                                                            
Driven by his diverse interests, Methat has long engaged his professional career as a strategic legal counsel in several industries including hospitality, e-commerce, and automotive.  To add more value to the work he loves, Methat also contributed his service as a law lecturer to several international programs of some Thai universities, while gaining academic and teaching skills in return.

Presently, Methat is fully in charge of anti-corruption management for Mercedes-Benz Thailand, and overseeing the internal control system and the policy implementation thereof.


 

Jeanette Estes
Asian Chief Compliance Officer
General Electric
In her present role Jeanette is responsible for developing a regionally focused compliance program, including leadership engagement to foster a culture of compliance and ensure strong risk identification and abatement, overseeing key compliance processes, FCPA training, open reporting, communication, regulatory compliance and investigations. 

Jeanette is a lawyer with over 17 years of experience gained mainly in Thailand, initially in private practice and from 2006-2012, in-house with IBM before she moved to her current role with GE in June 2012.  She had numerous roles while at IBM, initially as Country Counsel for Thailand and Vietnam (with a stint as Counsel in Australia during that time), and finally an ASEAN regional role for a business unit.

As an American educated lawyer who has lived in the ASEAN region for over 20 years, who speaks near native Thai and conversational Indonesian as well as Lao, Jeanette has a unique understanding of the complex and nuanced compliance environment in which MNC’s must operate in the region.  She has had experience managing a team of attorneys and contract managers, and has undertaken transactional, advisory and compliance work.

Jeanette holds a Bachelor of Arts (Thai Language and Culture) and a Masters of Arts (Southeast Asian Studies) from the University of Hawaii and obtained her Juris Doctor from the William S. Richardson School of Law. 


 

Katja Fenton

Legal Counsel ASEAN
BlueScope Buildings
Katja Fenton works for BlueScope Buildings as Legal Counsel ASEAN, based in Bangkok. Her role covers the region and she spends her time also working in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Bluescope Buildings, through its global brands, is the largest manufacturer of engineered building solutions in the world. Katja is a construction law specialist and spent 8 years working for the construction team at Clifford Chance in London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi before moving in-house and working as Legal Counsel in an international pipe manufacturing business based in Dubai. 
Julawut Kanaruk
Head of Legal Services and Compliance Team (Assistant GM)
Panasonic Management (Thailand) Co. Ltd.
Julawut is a head of Legal Service and Compliance Team at Panasonic Management (Thailand) (PMT), a Regional Operating Headquarters (ROH) that provides to all Panasonic Group’s in Thailand, the supporting legal services and compliance matters.

Prior to joining PMT, Julawut was a Senior Legal & Compliance Manager at Vinythai PLC., a joint venture company of PTTGC Group and Solvay Group, in charge of legal matters and build an enduring the Group ethics and compliance based culture, the Group’s Code of Conduct and corporate values.

Julawut holds international law degree from Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand.


 

Oliver Massmann
General Director
Duane Morris Vietnam LLC
Oliver Massmann has more than 15 years experience working as a commercial lawyer in Vietnam. Mr Massmann practices in the area of corporate international taxation and on power/water projects, matters related to oil and gas companies and telecoms, privatization and equalization mergers and acquisitions, and general commercial matters for multinational clients in relation to investment and doing business in Vietnam.
 
Mr Massmann is the only foreign lawyer as Member to the Supervisory Board of Petro Vietnam Insurance Corporation, Vietnam’s largest industrial insurer. He is currently working on sever investment projects as well as taxation matters and advising the Ministry of Electrical Power on building the power federation infrastructure in Myanmar.
 
Mr Massmann is registered Arbitrator of Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (The VIAC). He is the only foreign lawyer in Vietnam who is presenting to the National Assembly of Vietnam in Vietnamese language and teaching International law in Vietnamese language at the Ministry of Justice in Hanoi.
 
Mr Massmann is a 1994 graduate of Bochum Law University, first state exam and Ministry of Justice, Dusseldorf German, second state exam 1997. He is holding a LLM degree in international taxation from St. Thomas University Florida- United States of America. He is admitted to the Bar Association in Berlin and licensed foreign lawyer in Vietnam.
Nathalie Mirkovic
Head of Contracts, Bid Approvals & Commercial Management
Bombardier Transportation
Business legal adviser in International business law with 18 years' in-house legal experience in major International companies and law firms. High premium on providing legal support on complex cross-border transactions and guidance to sales personnel in key markets for strategic bids and projects. 

As Head of Contracts, Bid Approvals, Legal Affairs and Commercial Management for Bombardier Transportation’s Rail Signaling Solutions division in APAC, I manage a team of 6 legal counsels and project commercial managers from 5 different nationalities located in 3 different countries.  My department provides business development support for strategic regional bids, particularly those in markets with challenging terms and conditions. We ensure rigorous controls are in place to manage project commercial risks, to protect the company’s interests and to deliver opportunities from existing contracts.  We also provide expert support, training and guidance in commercial matters to the region’s project managers.

Born in the US from a French mother and a Serbian father, I’ve always thrived on multi-cultural experiences and the challenges they entail. 


 

Rijuta Mishra
Head of Legal
Payment Express Ltd.
Rijuta is leading the legal department of a FinTech startup that is aimed at revolutionizing the payment systems across the globe. In this role she is working upon ensuring a compliant environment while applying for registrations and licenses across ASEAN. Rijuta specializes in Anti Money Laundering and IT Security laws and keeps helping IT companies in building compliant banking solutions from the scratch. Prior to entering the startup world, Rijuta had been working with leading manufacturing units in India as in-house counsel and litigation expert. It was her interest to do and learn extra in a fast paced work environment that brought her into the startup industry.

Rijuta holds an Honours in Law and is enrolled with the Bar Council of India. 


 

Jackson K Pek
Vice President & General Counsel Asia Pacific
Amadeus IT Group
Jackson Pek supervises the legal and corporate affairs team at the Asia Pacific regional headquarters of Amadeus, the world’s leading transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry.  A public company founded by Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa, Amadeus is a component of the IBEX 35, Spain’s benchmark stock market index. Prior to joining Amadeus, Jackson was an attorney at the law firms Skadden Arps and White & Case in the U.S. and Asia, and most recently a senior attorney at IBM in charge of legal matters for the ASEAN countries and South Asia. In addition to his work with Amadeus, Jackson has lectured at various universities in Asia, most notably the National University of Singapore Law School, where he served on the faculty for two years. Jackson holds business and law degrees from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and from New York University School of Law. 
Julien Pochet
General Counsel, Asia Pacific
GDF SUEZ Energy Asia Co. Ltd.
Julien Pochet is ENGIE’s General Counsel & Ethics Officer for the Asia-Pacific region. ENGIE, formerly known as GDF SUEZ, provides highly efficient and innovative solutions to individuals, cities and businesses by relying on diversified gas-supply sources, flexible and low-emission power generation as well as unique expertise in four key sectors: independent power production, liquefied natural gas, renewable energy and energy efficiency services. After a successful career as an M&A lawyer within international law firms in Brussels and London, Julien joined the legal department of ENGIE in 2007, where he held several positions, first in the trading department in Chile and later as General Counsel of Chile, where he spent four years. Julien holds a Law degree from Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) and Rijksuniverstiteit Leiden (Netherlands) and a Post-Graduate Degree in International Politics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium). Julien is based in Bangkok and is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Dutch.
Desarack Teso
Director, Legal & Corporate Affairs
Microsoft (Thailand) Limited
 
Desarack (“Des”) Teso joined Microsoft Thailand as Director of Legal & Corporate Affairs in July 2009. In this capacity, Des represents Microsoft in playing an active and constructive role in the ongoing development of ICT public policies, legal, compliance and Microsoft’s citizenship initiatives in Thailand. Des grew up in Hawaii and attended Linfield College in Oregon where he graduated in BA Accounting. He then qualified as a Certified Public Accountant and started as an auditor for a CPA firm in Hawaii. He later received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Hawaii and a Masters of Business Administration. Des is a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association. Since 1997, Des has pursued a career that spans many of the legal, fiscal and government affairs disciplines and has worked extensively across the Asia Pacific region. Des started his career in Laos (where he is originally from) as a commercial lawyer for Mekong Law Group, then as a tax advisor for PricewaterhouseCoopers Indochina. Des then moved to Hong Kong where he took up a regional fiscal and regulatory affairs role for Asia Pacific with Philip Morris Asia, where he was responsible for countries spanning from Japan to Pakistan. After 5 years in Hong Kong, he then made an internal transfer to Singapore as the South East Asia regional corporate affairs lead for Kraft Foods Asia Pacific, with strong focus on the Philippines and Indonesia. Prior to joining Microsoft, Des went back to Laos and worked as the legal counsel for PanAust, Phu Bia Mining Limited, an Australian mining company with mining concessions in Laos and Thailand.
 
Takashi Toichi
Partner
Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
Takashi Toichi specializes in Mergers and Acquisitions (Public and Private Transactions: Domestic and Cross Border Transactions), Restructuring, Private Equity, and related financial transactions. He also provides advice to variety of clients on various general corporate matters, especially the Companies Act and the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law. From his experience studying abroad, he has a deep understanding of international finance and accounting issues relating to M&A and private equity.  
Paul Westover
Partner and Head of Corporate
Stephenson Harwood
Mr. Paul Westover heads the corporate group of Stephenson Harwood's Hong Kong office, which is a full service international law firm with 5 offices in Asia. Paul has broad experience in a wide range of corporate/commercial matters in the Asia region, having gained his experience through working in international law firms and as in-house counsel for a well-known American information technology company. Paul specialises in providing corporate finance, general corporate, corporate governance, investment fund related advice, and general commercial advice to a diverse range of clients including listed and private companies, as well as international corporations. His particular strength is in mergers and acquisitions, with substantial experience of cross-border M&A and related due diligence, as well as fund formations, joint ventures and inward investment into Asia. Transactions that he has handled have involved most jurisdictions within Asia. In addition, Paul has strong experience in insolvency related matters, particularly restructurings.
 

Contact us about the Thailand In-House Legal Summit 2016

 

For more information regarding this event, please contact:

Natasha Moorut

Phone: (+65) 6870 3182

Email: natasha.moorut@thomsonreuters.com

For details on sponsorship opportunities, please contact:

Amantha Chia

Phone: (+65) 6870 3917; (+65) 9642 9895

Email: amantha.chia@thomsonreuters.com

Register for the Thailand In-House Legal Summit 2016

 

FREE PASSES* are available for in-house legal counsel. Register now and get the latest regulatory and compliance updates to ensure success for your organisation in 2016.

VIP pass includes access to:

  • Full-day sessions
  • Networking luncheon
  • Refreshments
  • Speaker notes

*Please note that free passes are not applicable to law firms and legal service providers. Representatives from law firms and legal service providers are welcome to contact our sponsorship team (amantha.chia@thomsonreuters.com) for further information on how to participate in the event.

 ** Referrals are subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply.

 

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