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Viewing cable 08SINGAPORE939, SINGAPORE BEGINS LEGAL SERVICES LIBERALIZATION

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08SINGAPORE939 2008-09-03 09:21 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Singapore
VZCZCXRO4123
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHGP #0939/01 2470921
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030921Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5699
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000939 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD ECON SN
 
SUBJECT:  SINGAPORE BEGINS LEGAL SERVICES LIBERALIZATION 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  Singapore's government is taking applications 
from foreign law firms for approximately five licenses to practice 
Singapore law, an area long protected from foreign competition. 
Singaporean authorities are pushing to make Singapore a center for 
legal services, both to boost another industry and to support the 
growth of other service industries like corporate finance that 
require high-end legal work.  U.S. firms welcome the new measure, 
but predicted that interest would be slight given the relatively 
small size of the domestic legal market and ample domestic 
competition.  A scheduled review of the licensing measure in the 
next two years may lead to full liberalization of the legal sector. 
End Summary. 
 
Cracking the door 
----------------- 
 
2.  (U) On August 27, Parliament passed an amendment to the Legal 
Professions Bill that opens the door to increased liberalization of 
legal services in Singapore for foreign law practices (FLP).  The 
amendment enables foreign firms to apply for Qualifying Foreign Law 
Practice (QFLP) licenses to practice Singapore law through 
Singapore-qualified lawyers, with notable areas of legal practice 
still excluded.  Foreign firms have until October 9 to apply for one 
of likely only five licenses to be awarded, each valid for five 
years.  A selection committee chaired by Minister of Law K. 
Shanmugam will choose the five foreign licensees toward the end of 
the year.  Criteria to be considered for a license include the 
number of lawyers to be based in Singapore, intentions to establish 
firm headquarters in Singapore, and the firm's areas of legal 
practice and its track record within them. 
 
3.  (U) Currently, FLP's can practice Singaporean law only in 
partnership with a Singaporean law firm in a Joint Law Venture or as 
part of a Formal Law Alliance, which may include more than two 
firms.  Under the new QFLP scheme, foreign firms will be able to 
hire Singaporean lawyers and practice Singaporean law in permitted 
areas.  Excluded areas include conveyancing, criminal law, family 
law and domestic litigation.  The new legislation also enhances the 
Joint Law Venture program and expands FLP participation in 
international commercial arbitration. 
 
4.  (SBU) Valerie Thean, Director of the Legal Policy Division at 
the Ministry of Law, told Econoff that the licenses were a first 
step toward a fuller liberalization of Singapore's legal services 
sector.  Thean said that in typical Singapore style the GOS was 
taking a measured approach, but that the direction toward 
liberalization was clear.  A slow liberalization process would also 
give Singapore's established local firms time to adjust and better 
compete.  The GOS will review the progress of the liberalization in 
18 to 24 months and decide then on how to continue. 
 
5.  (U) The legislation follows on September 2007 recommendations 
from a GOS-sponsored Committee to Develop the Singapore Legal 
Sector, which concluded that Singapore's existing legal 
infrastructure was insufficient to support the growth of other 
legal-intensive business sectors like corporate finance and banking. 
 The GOS is also seeking to turn Singapore into a regional center 
for legal services, and hopes to attract foreign law firms that will 
bring in a greater volume of offshore legal work.  The GOS also 
hopes to stanch the outflow of Singapore-qualified lawyers to firms 
in other legal hubs like Hong Kong.  Opponents of the amendment said 
they feared that Singaporean firms would fall by the wayside under 
competition from foreign firms, or that local lawyers would flock to 
better paying foreign firms in Singapore. 
 
U.S. law firms yawn at business prospects 
----------------------------------------- 
 
6.  (SBU) Econoff spoke to partners at several U.S. law firms who 
described the opening as significant, but said their firms were only 
marginally interested in applying for a license and practicing 
Singapore law.  Although Singapore is a major business center 
hosting a multitude of multinational corporations, the Singapore 
legal market is relatively small.  Most foreign law firms based in 
Singapore practice foreign law elsewhere in the region or do 
cross-border legal work, and establish headquarters in Singapore 
mainly out of convenience.  Foreign firms say they are active in 
project financing, cross border merger and acquisition, and private 
equity, but are less interested in Singapore corporate work.  Few 
had bothered to establish Joint Law Ventures to pursue Singaporean 
legal work, and many of the ventures attempted had failed.  U.S. 
firms say that the Singaporean market is already well served by 
local firms that charge half what foreign firms typically bill. 
 
7.  (SBU) The U.S. firms admit, however, that there is little 
downside to applying for a license and several will likely do so. 
Despite the small market, opportunities exist in arbitration, IPOs, 
intellectual property and picking up the Singapore side of 
cross-border work.  However, these opportunities are not considered 
highly lucrative and would unlikely be sufficient to attract 
 
SINGAPORE 00000939  002 OF 002 
 
 
well-known U.S. firms who are not yet represented in Singapore.  One 
U.S. firm predicted that the response to the license offering would 
be so minimal that the GOS would opt to liberalize the entire sector 
after its review in 18 to 24 months. 
HERBOLD