Home-booking company Airbnb has hired Darrell Chan as deputy general counsel for the Asia-Pacific from Discovery Communications, where he led the APAC corporate legal and regulatory affairs teams. Chan will be based in Singapore, which serves as Airbnb’s APAC headquarters.
Chan’s hire comes as Airbnb faces legal and regulatory challenges in Singapore, which frowns on short-term property rentals. In fact, two men were charged late last year for unauthorized short-term letting of apartments, the first such cases under the city-state’s rules on short-term property letting introduced in 2017.
Prior to his time at Discovery, Chan was the head of legal for Asia at travel booking giant Expedia for three years, building and managing the legal and public policy functions in the region. Earlier in his career, he had had stints as an associate at Magic Circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Singapore Big Four law firm Drew & Napier. He was named in ALB’s 40 Under 40 list last year.
