Singapore’s Ministry of Law (MinLaw) has deferred its decision on renewals of the first batch of Qualifying Foreign Law Practice (QFLP) firms until 2020, the same year that the second batch of QFLP firms are due to have their licences renewed.

The first batch – including Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Latham & Watkins, Norton Rose Fulbright, and White & Case - received QFLP licenses in 2009, and these were renewed five years later. The licences allowed them to practice in some areas of Singapore law. 

They were supposed to have been renewed again this year, but MinLaw deferred the decision to 2020 in order to “synchronise the timeline for the first and second batches of QFLPs to better allow the Ministry to assess all the QFLPs’ contributions to Singapore across the board”.

The second batch of firms - Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Jones Day, Linklaters and Sidley Austin - received their QFLP licences in 2013. Their licences were scheduled for renewal in 2018, but MinLaw said earlier that the four had fallen short on their promises, and decided to defer its decision on renewal to 2020.

According to MinLaw data, in 2017 and 2018, the nine QFLPs generated more than S$400 million ($295 million) in revenue, with 80 per cent coming from offshore work, or work that could have been done elsewhere.

In making its decision about the renewals, MinLaw will take into consideration the firm’s performance, considering factors such as the value of the work that it will generate in Singapore and the extent to which the Singapore office will function as the firm’s headquarters for the region.

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