Last month DAC Beachcroft became one of a few firms to take advantage of the liberalisation of the Malaysian market as it applied to the country’s Bar council for a joint venture (JV) licence with Kuala Lumpur-based association firm Gan Partnership.
According to Gan Khong Aik, one of four partners at Gan Partnership, the two firms have been in a formal association for the last four or five years. The Malaysian practice, which specialises in corporate commercial, dispute resolution and intellectual property is hoping to expand its offering in reinsurance and insurance through formalising its relationship further with DAC.
Gan said: ‘We have a portfolio in insurance but this JV will formalise that to some regard. This will help to open up our international practice as well as improving our local practice in this area. This is in line with liberalisation – it is hoped that the foreign law expertise could help to enhance and improve the local practice in the same area.’
Malaysia, which is a strong market for Islamic banking, construction and arbitration, has been popular with UK law firms in recent years since the introduction of the Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2012, which has liberalised the market and encouraged foreign firms to join together in an international partnership or practise law as a qualified foreign law firm. The licence also enables Malaysian law firms to employ foreign lawyers.
Gan said: ‘To get the licence there is a certain process to go through. We make an application to The Bar Council and then there will be a selection committee chaired by the attorney general [AG] of Malaysia and including the Malaysian Bar president. There is no fixed timeline under the Act – it all depends on the availability of the AG.
Last month Trowers & Hamlins became the first foreign law firm to secure a Qualified Foreign Law Firm (QFLF) licence in Malaysia as it seeks to capitalise on its Islamic finance offering and target European-bound investment. Prior to receiving its QFLF licence, Trowers operated a non-trading representative regional office in Kuala Lumpur following approval from the Malaysia Investment Development Authority. When the office opened in July 2012, Trowers was the first foreign law firm – and the only UK law firm – to establish a representative regional office in Malaysia. At the moment, the Malaysian Bar Council has stated that only five QFLF licences will be made available.
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk