Zetland Group Navigates Singapores Legal Waters for Foreign Law Firms

With Asia on the rise, Singapore is an attractive destination for multinationals including foreign law firms, and Zetland Financial Group offers a detailed analysis of how to launch operations in the city-state.

Overseas legal firms planning to setup an office in Singapore currently have two options, writes Matthew Katuri, general manager of Zetland's fiduciary services. One is to start a foreign law firm "representative office" (RO); the other simply a " foreign law firm" (FLF).

"Primarily they both are the same in visibility and application method, but functionally they are completely different," says Katuri.

For example, once the FLF is established, the license is valid until the law firm decides to cease operations in Singapore, Katuri says. The FLF license allows the transfer of lawyers from the home country to work in Singapore with employment passes issued from the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore. There is no limit to the number of staff who can transfer to Singapore to practice.

The RO, meanwhile, means there is no minimum requirement on investment to start up, but there are numerous prohibitions imposed on the license, which must be renewed annually. The representative office is not allowed to raise invoices, give legal advice, conclude contracts, provide consultancy services, nor open or negotiate letters of credit for clients. The RO is simply a liaison-marketing office of the foreign law firm.

Singapore is currently reviewing recommendations to liberalize its legal sector to fulfill the city state's ambition of becoming an international center for the provision of legal services.

Foreign law firms are now regulated by the Legal Profession Act 2000. The current system is highly protective of local law firms and has many prohibitions for foreign ones.

Foreign firms can only provide legal services in foreign law , not Singapore law. They can only engage in offshore, high-end work in the areas of intellectual property, international arbitration, finance and banking, and maritime laws.

The June report on Zetland's website is one of many financial analyses offered each month by the Hong Kong-based firm. Zetland provides business and financial consultancy internationally and in the Asia region with an emphasis on operations in China.

Zetland Group Navigates Singapores Legal Waters for Foreign Law Firms

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Zetland Group Navigates Singapores Legal Waters for Foreign Law Firms

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