Transmenu powered by JoomlArt.com - Mambo Joomla Professional Templates Club

Alderman Luder was accompanied by His Excellency Mr Boyd McCleary, the British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Ms Alison Hook from the Law Society of England and Wales, representatives from English law firms namely Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Trowers & Hamlins and Herbet Smith LLP, and also representatives from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and the International Financial Services London (IFSL).  

The main issue discussed was the development of the liberalisation of the legal services sector in Malaysia, especially following Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s announcement on allowing five foreign law firms into the legal services sector in Malaysia. 

Mr Christopher Leong, the GATS Committee Chairperson, informed guests that the BC believes in a managed liberalisation process and highlighted that the mode of entry for foreign law firms into Malaysia must be through Joint Law Ventures (JLV).

The reasons for the JLV model include the need for a gestation period, albeit short-term, for local lawyers to equip themselves with necessary skills to compete regionally and internationally.  In addition although some are questioning on how successful the JLV model has been in Singapore, the BC believes that that experience provided a good learning curve for many Singaporean lawyers, of which similar experience would be beneficial for Malaysian lawyers. 

Thus, the JLV model would be a better approach for Malaysian lawyers compared to the stand-alone model. BC also believes that the JLV model would be more attractive to foreign law firms because it allows wider areas of practice compared to the stand-alone model, which would only be allowed to engage in international Islamic Finance legal transactions. 

Mr Leong also informed the guests about the Bar Council’s Roadmap for Liberalisation of the Legal Services Sector, which was submitted to the Attorney General’s Chambers earlier this year.  The Roadmap illustrates the beginning of liberalisation of the legal services sector by allowing foreign firms to enter the country under a JLV model with minority equity holding.  The equity holding would be further liberalised come 2012, with foreign firms to own majority equity, and these foreign firms could subsequently apply for a stand-alone practice. 

The main response from the UK delegation was that UK firms would be more interested on a stand-alone basis and on a carved-out area of practice, instead of a wider area.  The disinterest in the JLV model is due to the restriction and the difficulties in determining the areas of practice and in achieving common economic interest between the local and foreign partners.  The UK team also believes that transfer of knowledge could occur even under a stand-alone model as lawyers would be regularly trained by the foreign firms. 

The UK delegation suggested that the BC work on a more structured, more manageable and a more efficient model for entry of foreign law firms into the country to make it more attractive to foreign law firms. 

The BC stated that it is working on a more collaborative JLV model instead of adopting the Singapore JLV model lock, stock and barrel.  The BC is also concerned that the allowance by the Government to offer licences to only 5 foreign law firms would be too restrictive and would defeat the purpose of liberalisation, which is to encourage more foreign law firms to come in and contribute to the legal services sector in the country.

Both sides agreed for further engagement and collaboration on the liberalisation process, especially once the government decides its final policy on this matter. 

The UK delegation strongly believes that BC must be central in the process for the liberalisation of the legal services sector in Malaysia.