RHTLaw Taylor Wessing Chairman Professor Walter Woon SC, was featured in an article in the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) News Highlights segment titled “ASEAN Needs rules-based culture”. The article highlighted Professor Woon’s speaking engagement at the David Marshall Lecture titled “Building Rules-Based ASEAN Community: Strengthening the Centre” where he shared his first-hand experience as a Singapore representative drafting the ASEAN charter. Honourable guests who attended the event included Professor Jayakumar, former Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman  of NUS Law Advisory Council and CIL; Professor Tommy Koh, Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large and CIL Chairman; and Mr George Yeo, former Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister. The full article dated 26 November 2015 can be found here on the NUS website.

RHTLaw Taylor Wessing was awarded a silver ranking for its Prosecution and Strategy expertise while Head of Intellectual Property & Technology, Jonathan Kok was ranked as a Recommended Individual in the Singapore section of the World Trademark Review 1000 (WTR 1000). WTR 1000 describes RHTLaw Taylor Wessing as a “go-to destination for brand owners seeking counsel on potentially lucrative licensing and franchising matters. Media and entertainment concerns are big fans, while food and beverage mark holders swear by its forward-looking guidance. Top designers such as Christopher Guy likewise appreciate the firm’s portfolio management abilities.” Additionally, WTR 1000 reports Jonathan Kok as a “silver-tongued negotiator who can shepherd the most complex deals to close, another go-to guy out east. He is known to maximise the impact of brands throughout Asia-Pacific." WTR 1000 is the only standalone research directory to focus exclusively on trademark practices and practitioners. It has firmly established itself as the definitive resource for those seeking legal trademark expertise. The full rankings can be viewed here.

RHTLaw Taylor Wessing, in conjunction with the RHT Group of Companies, launched the inaugural RHT Subhas Anandan Bursary Award Ceremony today, 6 January 2015, at its premises. The event was attended by Consultants and Partners of the firm, the award recipients and their families, the media as well as members of Subhas Anandan’s family – his wife Vimala Anandan, son Sujesh Anandan and sister Sugadha Anandan.    As a tribute to its late Senior Partner – Singapore’s most illustrious criminal lawyer – and his honourable work, the RHT Subhas Anandan Bursary Award was launched to assist the children of the staff of RHTLaw Taylor Wessing and the RHT Group of Companies to meet their basic schooling expenses.    The inaugural bursary award ceremony began with a video tribute to the “legal legend” followed by a speech delivered by Senior Partner Mr Rajan Menon. In his speech, Mr Menon fondly recalled Subhas’ kind and giving nature in person and in the courtroom, describing him “as a man of integrity (with) boundless energy, passion, compassion, generosity and a staunch defender of the Rule of Law”.    The recipients of the RHT Subhas Anandan Bursary Awards are:   1. Kwek Ying Sui, Primary 4 2. Muhd Naasiruddin B Muhammad Zakkaria, Secondary 4 3. Abdul Khair B Muhammed Zakkaria, Institute of Technical Education (ITE) 4. Muhd Irfan N Muhammed Zakkaria, Primary 6 5. Janessa Tan Yi Ling, Primary 6 6. Lucus Tan Yi Jie – Kindergarten 1    Initiated by the Partners of the firm, RHTLaw Taylor Wessing is honoured that the late Mr Subhas has allowed the Firm to remember him and his charitable ways by naming this annual bursary award after him.   This annual bursary award is open to students ranging from local pre-school to university and underpins the firm’s desire to focus on inspiring young people and helping them identify their passion and natural skills.

RHTLaw Taylor Wessing’s Deputy Head of Capital Markets Practice, Partner Ch’ng Li-Ling, was quoted in The Business Times article titled “SGX shares case studies of private disciplinary action”. The article was first published in The Business Times on 22 December 2015.   SGX shares case studies of private disciplinary action Source: The Business Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Date: 22 Dec 2015 Author: Kenneth Lim THE Singapore Exchange (SGX) is lifting the lid on private disciplinary actions to give the market insight into regulatory deliberations and how-to tips on staying compliant. Case studies provided are solely for educational purposes, it said, adding: "Information shared in the case studies may have been modified to protect the identity of the companies." As part of a new "Listing Compliance Bulletin", the market operator has also published a number of templates and checklists for issuers who are seeking exchange approval for corporate actions such as stock placements, rights issues, share consolidation, deadline extensions or waivers. For the first time, SGX has published 10 case studies of private disciplinary action that the market operator has taken against errant issuers and their directors or advisers. Private disciplinary action is typically taken for less severe breaches of listing rules, and can include reminders or warning letters. Public disciplinary actions often take the form of reprimands. SGX took 29 private and public regulatory actions in the year ended June 2015. In one case study, SGX noted that a company had failed to announce an increased stake in a subsidiary because staff was unaware of the requirement. The company undertook briefings to educate its staff to prevent recurrence. "These case studies of non-public regulatory decisions highlight common pitfalls, areas of concern and circumstances which would lead to a breach of the listing rules," SGX said in a statement. "We hope these case studies will provide insight to market participants on the key considerations SGX deliberated on when deciding on regulatory actions. Some examples of steps taken by affected issuers to improve their internal controls are also mentioned. We hope issuers will find these case studies a useful guide for the strengthening of their internal processes and controls so as to avoid similar occurrences." Beyond regulatory case studies, the "Listing Compliance Toolkit" section of the new bulletin provides templates and checklists for issuers seeking approval for various corporate actions. SGX said it would update those templates constantly based on feedback that it receives. "The toolkit is aimed at making regulatory compliance more structured, efficient and simpler to understand," SGX said. "Contained in the toolkit are template forms for corporate actions. These are focused on addressing areas of the highest regulatory concerns with regards to corporate actions and to facilitate approval of submissions." SGX has also introduced compliance guidelines aimed at providing better clarity to sponsors of issuers on the Catalist board. The first guideline issued by the exchange lays out what SGX considers to be the minimum due diligence that sponsors must carry out in determining whether to accept a new client. Before taking on a new client, sponsors much evaluate the issuer's business, financial position and board dynamics and compliance issues, SGX said. Sponsors must also assess the suitability of directors and the efficacy of the board, and determine whether an issuers has sufficient systems, procedures, controls and resources. Chng Li-Ling, deputy head of the capital markets practice at RHTLaw Taylor Wessing, welcomed the greater transparency from the regulator. "The case studies are helpful in highlighting the different scenarios in which companies and professionals have fallen short of expected regulatory standards," Ms Chng said. "Most of these scenarios can easily happen to a listed company, so the recommended practices as highlighted in the case studies are helpful as a guide for listed companies."