RHTLaw Taylor Wessing today announces the addition of an international private wealth specialist to our 30 partner office in Singapore. Ryan Myint, an award-winning partner specialising in advising international private clients, is relocating to Singapore from Taylor Wessing's London office for an initial period of five years, officially beginning on 1 October 2012. The South East Asian region is widely recognised as a rapidly growing economy where a great deal of private wealth is being created. Wealth reports from a number of authoritative sources, including Royal Bank of Canada-Cap Gemini, Credit Suisse and Julius Baer, all show that Asia has overtaken Europe and North America by number of high net worth individuals and that 50% of listed companies in Asia are family-controlled. Ryan will be working alongside RHTLaw Taylor Wessing’s Head of Private Wealth, Tan Choon Leng and the other partners in the group, to develop the firm's private client practice both in Asia and internationally, drawing upon the expertise of Taylor Wessing’s specialist private client partners worldwide. In conjunction with RHTLaw Taylor Wessing's local and regional experts, he will advise high net worth clients on matters of international private client law, for example giving strategic advice on international asset protection, succession planning structures, trust and estate disputes and the establishment and ongoing management of private and family offices.   Since August 2011, Ryan has been working closely with the partners of RHTLaw Taylor Wessing to grow the firm's private wealth platform in Asia. Ryan was a speaker at the highly regarded Private Client Forum Asia conferences in Singapore in 2011 and 2012, and is internationally recognised for his expertise as General Editor of the Journal of International Tax, Trust and Corporate Planning. Taylor Wessing's Private Wealth group has been recognised as a market leader in the UK, Europe and the Middle East for many years, most recently winning 'London Legal Team of the Year' at the STEP Private Client Awards, the most prestigious awards in the international private client world. The Group offers a fully integrated service for the ultra-wealthy who need expert and joined-up advice on their personal wealth structures, international tax planning, commercial and real estate investments, reputation management and immigration issues. Acting for many of the world’s wealthiest families, Taylor Wessing and RHTLaw Taylor Wessing are able to assist clients with an integrated service covering both private client and corporate needs. As many major corporate businesses in Asia are family-owned, RHTLaw Taylor Wessing is ideally placed to serve the full range of business and private needs of these families.  Ryan Myint comments: "I am delighted to be returning to my roots in South East Asia. My colleagues in Singapore combine an impressive breadth of expertise with depth of local knowledge. I am excited to be working with them to develop our private wealth practice in such a dynamic and entrepreneurial part of the world."  Tan Choon Leng, Head of Private Wealth at RHTLaw Taylor Wessing, comments: “Despite the fluctuations in the economy, the dynamic and significant changes in the international business and regulatory environment have been such that the demand from clients for the advice of our lawyers in the private wealth group has been unrelenting. Ryan’s arrival not only meets a current need but also greatly strengthens what we can offer our clients moving forward and we are very glad to have him with us.”   Tan Chong Huat, Managing Partner at RHTLaw Taylor Wessing, comments: "We are very excited about Ryan joining our team on the ground in Singapore. The firm has built its South East Asian practice very quickly over the past year on the strength of our relationships with our clients, who include some of the most influential families in the region. With Ryan onboard and under Choon Leng’s leadership, RHTLaw Taylor Wessing is one of the very few full service law firms in Singapore that offer both local and international wealth planning services to its clients and we look forward to continue working and growing with these clients and their advisors.”

RHTLaw Taylor Wessing congratulates RHT Capital on her appointment as the Sponsor for Asiatravel.com Holdings Limited with effect from 1 October 2012. Asiatravel is an online hotel reservation company and it operates in five segments: Internet hotel reservation service, promotion service, tour and transportation packages, air tickets, and corporate. Internet hotel reservation service includes provision of online hotel room booking service through the Company’s Website and wholesale hotel reservation services. Promotion service includes promotion of hotels’ and resorts’ products and services on interactive and cable television channels. Tour and transportation packages include arrangement of inbound and outbound sightseeing tours and provision of accommodation, meals and transport management services. Asiatravel and its subsidiaries form the largest independent publically listed pan-Asia online travel reservation service provider. Together, the Group of Companies serve customers across Asia with a wholly owned network of offices in 9 countries- Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, India and United Arab Emirates ( UAE) and 5 partner offices in Japan, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Vietnam. RHTLaw Taylor Wessing’s Corporate and Securities Deputy Head and Partner, Mr Lawrence Wong, is the appointed Registered Professional for Asiatravel.com Holdings Limited.

RHTLaw Taylor Wessing is committed to the development of our Associates. Taylor Wessing organises an International Associates Academy once every year. One of the objectives of the Academy is to allow associates from the various Taylor Wessing offices to meet and build a strong working relationship with their counterparts. This year’s Academy will be held in Hamburg, Germany on 5 and 6 October 2012. We are pleased to announce that an Associate from our Banking & Finance and Real Estate practice will be sent for this event. The programme for this year will include key topics such as: Working internationally and the impact of culture; Technical training: understanding the legal differences between jurisdictions and being commercially aware; Building the Bond and operating as a commercial lawyer; Developing trusted business advisor skills.

In Issue 1 of RHTLaw Taylor Wessing’s Indonesia Practice Bulletin, our Indonesia Practice team shared key insights on Indonesia’s new mining regulations. The last three years saw a significant increase in the export of mineral ores from Indonesia following the enactment of the new Mining Law (Law 4/2009) in 2009.  The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (“ESDM”) reported that exports of nickel ore increased by 800%, iron ore by 700%, and bauxite by 500%.  This occurred despite the Mining Law mandating that miners must process and refine the ore within the country. This mandatory requirement will take effect on 12 January 2014.   As yet, mining companies have not put together a comprehensive plan to build domestic refinery facilities to meet the requirements of the new law.  It was against this backdrop that the Government of Indonesia recently issued a series of regulations that were intended to accelerate the implementation by mining companies of their processing and refining obligations. Please click on the link below to view the bulletin: Indonesia Practice Bulletin Issue No. 01 As part of RHTLaw Taylor Wessing’s value added services, our Indonesia Practice team will be sharing key legal insights about Indonesia through our regular bulletin. To subscribe, please send an email to newsletters@rhtlawtaylorwessing.com.