Law firm highlights – July/Aug 2015

• King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is officially open for business in Singapore. The firm’s new office opened last month in the Ocean Financial Centre. Three KWM partners will lead the establishment of the office with an initial focus on International Funds, Energy and Resources and China inbound and outbound work – John Sullivan, Huang Xuhua and Michael Lawson.The office will support multi-national companies conducting business across the region, and Asian companies in their direct investment activities and capital markets transactions globally. The firm already has a long track record for inbound and outbound work involving Singapore and Singaporean companies, and has worked on many of the region’s most important transactions. The latest office in Singapore marks KWM’s 15th office in Asia.
• Dentons Doha managing partner Safwan Moubaydeen and Dubai associate Nadine Naji provided a presentation on corruption and anti-bribery at a conference organised by The Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre (QICDRC) in collaboration with the Legal and Judicial Studies Center of the Ministry of Justice on May 28, 2015.The event, aimed at raising awareness for the implications of corruption in Qatar, was well-attended by delegates from the Public Prosecution, government and private agencies, and international businesses, emphasising the appetite for knowledge on how best to combat corruption and bribery across all areas of business.Qatar is one of 19 Arab states which have committed themselves to implement the UNCAC, the first global legally binding international anti-corruption instrument, implemented in 2003.
• Al Tamimi & Company's Sports Law Practice, the only dedicated sports law practice in the Middle East, has won a mandate to provide a range of legal services to the recently launched Masters Champions League (MCL). The MCL is an annual T20 cricket tournament for retired greats of the game and has received approval from the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) for a multi-year run. It is planned to be held in the UAE over two weeks in February 2016. Al Tamimi was engaged by the organisers of the tournament, GM Sports, to provide legal support in securing the rights to the tournament and in respect of the many ongoing operational elements required to stage such an ambitious project, including drafting contracts for the players, icons, and the MCL's event management company, Major Events Group, which is run by former Australian international cricketer Dean Jones. The law firm also provided advice on the formal understanding between the ECB and GM Sports, which was a critical element in securing the governing body's approval for the tournament being held in the UAE.
• Bae, Kim & Lee (BKC) LLC is the first Korean firm to open in the DIFC. Yangho Oh, chief operation partner at BKL LLC, as well as senior partners of the firm- Kap You (Kevin) Kim and Ghun Chul Do were present at the launch. Hyun Jong (Jason) Kim heads the Dubai operation that aims to deliver high quality legal consultation to Korean companies investing in the MEA region and to countries and companies in the Middle East that are keen to invest in Korea and in the far eastern countries. The United Arab Emirates is currently home to 160 Korean companies and a 13,000-strong Korean workforce.  In addition to the Dubai office, BKL plans to open overseas offices in Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) and Hong Kong in the first half of 2015.