Navigating the ESG Landscape in Asia: Risks, Progress, and Talent

• Compliance and Governance on regulatory reporting requirements and ensuring transparency
• Mitigate ESG-related risks from discovery through to implementation
• Practicalities and Challenges of implementing and balancing requirements
• Top strategies for attracting and upskilling ESG talent in Asia

• Joyce Lai, Executive Director, Group Legal and Compliance – Sustainability/ESG at DBS Bank
• Peggy Lim, Assistant General Counsel, Wider Asia at Haleon plc
• Kushal Gandhi, Partner at CMS London
• Wei Ming Tan, Of Counsel at CMS Singapore

Moderator

Asya Jamaludin

Partner, CMS Singapore

Asya is a Partner at CMS Singapore. Prior to commencing private practice, Asya was an in-house counsel for one of Malaysia’s largest utility companies, where she advised on electricity generation and transmission projects.

Asya's main practice areas are in the construction and oil & gas/energy sectors, where she advises across the value chain including providing front-end and transactional as well as dispute resolution advice on oil and gas and engineering, procurement and construction projects. Asya also practices in the general commercial, international trade and commodities sectors.

She is admitted to practise law in Malaysia and Singapore and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She sits as an arbitrator and is a member of the AIAC (previously known as KLRCA) panel of arbitrators. She has presided over and published awards in relation to matters related to commercial and construction disputes.

Asya was described as “an emerging talent in offshore construction matters” by the Legal 500 Asia Pacific rankings and as having “great industry knowledge and client engagement” by Asialaw.

Panel speakers

Joyce Lai

Executive Director, Group Legal and Compliance – Sustainability/ESG

DBS Bank

Joyce Lai is regional head for Sustainability and ESG in Group Legal and Compliance at DBS and was previously working as the regional head of Legal and Compliance-Treasury & Markets at DBS.

Prior to DBS, Joyce worked as in-house counsel (head of derivatives) at BlueCrest Capital Management, and at MUFG Securities in London, United Kingdom. She trained and practised at Slaughter and May in London and in Hong Kong, and later practised at Clifford Chance in London. She is qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales, and in Hong Kong, SAR. Upon her return to Singapore, Joyce worked with Standard Chartered Bank’s Financial Markets’ Legal Team.

Joyce is a reviewer-contributor to the GenZero and Allen & Gledhill LLP paper “The Legal Character of Voluntary Carbon Credits: A Way Forward” published on 26 March 2024. She is a co-chair of the ASIFMA Transition Planning (and Finance) Working Group, as well as an active member of the ASIFMA/ISDA Public Policy Committee, ASIFMA Sustainable Finance Committee and ASIFMA Carbon Markets Working Group.  She was a co-chair of the ISDA Asia-Pacific Legal and Regulatory Committee – South Asia (July 2019 - April 2024).

Peggy Lim

Assistant General Counsel, Wider Asia

Haleon plc

Peggy is currently Head of Legal, Wider Asia Region and is a member of the Legal, Compliance and Corporate Secretariat Leadership Team at Haleon. As a member of the Leadership Team, she is involved in shaping the strategy and mission of Haleon’s Legal, Compliance and Corporate function. In addition, she sits on several commercial leadership teams and oversees the legal support to Haleon’s business and operations across Wider Asia, including advising on ESG-related matters.

Prior to Haleon’s demerger from GlaxoSmithKline in 2022, Peggy held various roles as part of the Legal team of GSK including serving on their Legal Digital Centre of Excellence. Peggy is an alumni of GSK’s Asia Leadership Program and was instrumental in building up a legal team across Asia. Before joining GSK, Peggy was the Asia Pacific counsel of a European company in the oil and gas industry. Peggy started her career in private practice as a litigator in a Singapore law firm before switching to corporate work focusing on mergers and acquisitions and capital market work.

Kushal Gandhi

Partner

CMS London

Kushal is a partner in the Finance Disputes team in London specialising in Finance and FinTech dispute resolution. He is an experienced litigation and international arbitration practitioner. He is also an active member of the CMS India Desk. Kushal regularly assists clients to navigate complex issues, including cross-border disputes. He also helps develop risk mitigation strategies and obtain emergency relief from Courts and Tribunals.

Kushal is recognised as a Next Generation Partner by Legal500 for Banking Litigation: Investment and Retail, and International Arbitration.

Wei Ming Tan

Of Counsel

CMS Singapore

Wei Ming specialises in a broad range of complex, multi-jurisdictional matters, including international arbitration and commercial litigation. He has a particular focus on High Court litigation and has appeared as counsel at all levels of the Supreme Court of Singapore. In addition, he regularly appears as party counsel in international and ad hoc arbitration proceedings. Wei Ming has acted for a number of household name clients across a broad range of sectors, including technology, financial services, shipping and insurance.

He sits on the Law Society of Singapore’s ADR and Civil Practice Committees and as a Panel Expert for Arbitration (LexisPSL). Wei Ming is the editor of the popular Singapore International Arbitration Blog and his thought leadership has been published by Legal500, Practical Law and the Singapore International Mediation Centre, amongst others, alongside developing the Singapore chapter for the CMS Expert Guide on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgements. Wei Ming was featured in Asian Legal Business’s inaugural list of Singapore Rising Stars (2022) which spotlights the next generation of the region’s lawyers based on client feedback.