Our mission to provide high quality advice to clients across the commercial spectrum both in Malaysia and throughout our region.

Our team of highly motivated lawyers are totally committed to understanding our clients’ needs and business objectives.

We are committed to working seamlessly and collaboratively across practice areas and we endeavour to provide innovative tailor-made solutions.

So whichever of the following practice areas is most relevant to your immediate needs, your business will benefit from our collective experience and expertise.

Practice Areas 
Banking & Finance 

Our banking and finance practice lawyers have a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the transactional and regulatory frameworks necessary to undertake both domestic and regional deals. Our strength lies in offering thoughtful and comprehensive legal advice to banks and other financial institutions, as well as their clients on a wide variety of instruments and cross-border transactions.

Our practice includes corporate banking, trade finance, debt capital markets, project finance and structured finance. 

Capital Markets 

We are able to offer a comprehensive range of services for transactions involving equity, debt and hybrid instruments. Our lawyers also advise on IPOs and other capital market transactions and we have also acted as legal adviser on Malaysian law for listings outside Malaysia.

Commercial Litigation

Our lawyers are the natural choice for clients facing any kind of complex litigation.

Whatever the issue, we have the skills, resources and experience to see you through every step of your dispute resolution process. Our close working partnerships with an extensive network of forensic accountants, commercial investigators, offshore law firms and other professionals enable us to deliver customised solutions that transcend international and industrial boundaries.

With a focus on delivering a full range of services, we work closely with other practices within the firm such as our Corporate and Capital Markets, International Arbitration, and Shipping & International Trade Groups, to provide our clients with 360° solutions to every problem.

Competition & Antitrust and Trade 

Responsiveness, knowledgeable and commercially astute, these are the key attributes that make our team a force in this highly specialised area. With the benefit of drawing on a wealth of regional and International experience, we give our clients a competitive advantage and practical commercial solutions. We offer legal support on all aspects of this highly specialized area of legal practice including issues such as price fixing, abuse of dominance and merger control.

Construction & Projects 

We support our clients from inception to the final close out of construction projects. With the best possible legal advice from a team with long and wide experience and cutting edge knowledge of the key issues affecting the industry, clients are assured of minimizing project risk. Should a dispute be unavoidable, our clients are also backed by a professional team, which has a strong reputation for resolving complex high-end disputes.

Employment

Our lawyers are familiar with the drafting and review of employment contracts and employment handbooks as well as advising on employment related issues including those arising from acquisitions and divestments.

Foreign Investment Approvals

Our lawyers are well-versed with the local requirements and able to advise on the appropriate structure of the investment and form of the investment vehicle, taking into account the investor's specific objectives and at the same time assist on licensing and regulatory approvals and advising on exchange control and stamp duty issues.

General Corporate Commercial 

We advise on all aspects of corporate and commercial laws including mergers and takeovers of listed companies, privatisations, advising on investments in Malaysia in a wide range of sectors and advising on corporate governance and compliance issues. We also advise on a wide spectrum of Malaysian laws including on the sale of interests other than shares, interpretation of contracts, consumer protection laws, insurance laws, Labuan companies, financial services and securities, trust and other laws, negotiating and preparing commercial contracts ranging from joint ventures, agency, distribution, franchise and licence agreements to procurement, marketing, supply, service and management and manufacturing contracts.

International Arbitration 

Our arbitration team works closely with Rajah & Tann Singapore, which has been consistently recognised and ranked as a top international arbitration practice by leading publications. 

Intellectual Property 

Our Intellectual Property (“IP”) Practice Group advises clients on a range of intellectual property matters, from registration, litigation and enforcement to transactional and regulatory advice. The firm represents statutory bodies and clients from a wide range of industry sectors. 

Our practice includes the following areas:

  • Trade Marks
  • Industrial Design
  • Patents and Utility Innovations
  • Confidential Information and Trade Secrets
  • Copyright
  • Layout design of an Integrated Circuit
  • Geographical Indications
  • IP litigation / Dispute Resolution
  • Enforcement of IP rights, including designing anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting programmes
  • Domain Names
  • Advertising law and regulations
  • Injunctions and Anton Piller
  • Commercial Exploitation of IP rights, including licensing and franchising.
  • IP Valuation
  • IP management, due diligence and audit
  • Regulatory Advice on product registration; food, drug and labelling laws; and registration of medical devices
Islamic Finance 

The recognition and attractiveness of Islamic finance and Islamic instruments as an alternative to conventional Western financial models has swept across the world in recent years. The ever evolving features of Islamic finance, its financing techniques and the factors affecting its development are clear to us. Our lawyers have a comprehensive understanding of the principles governing Islamic finance, having pioneered some of the first and largest Islamic instruments and financial structures in Malaysia, such as the issuance of Sukuk Musharakah by Cagamas MBS Bhd in connection with a securitisation of mortgage assets and the issuance of Sukuk Al Ijarah by BNM Sukuk Bhd. This head start and our experience in the industry over the years allow us to confidently advise on a wide range of issues in almost any Islamic finance transaction.

Mergers & Acquisitions 

Our M&A Practice Group works closely with the team of lawyers within the regional network with enormous in-depth experience in many significant, challenging and complex M&A transactions. We are able to tap on this collective regional expertise and formulate innovative strategies and solutions to meet our client’s objectives. Our services include conducting legal due diligence on Malaysian companies and businesses across a wide range of industry sectors and assist in determining key legal issues for investors.

Real Estate 

Our team handles all aspects of property transactions ranging from acquisitions and disposals, leasing (residential, commercial and industrial), financing (individuals and corporations) and development, through all the various stages including negotiations and preparation of sale and purchase agreements and lease/tenancy agreements, security documentation and advising on risk . We also provide property due diligence and advisory services on all property issues including applications to the relevant governmental and statutory authorities. Our wide base of clientele includes developers, fund managers, local and foreign investors, both individual and corporate and financial institutions (conventional and Islamic).

Shipping & International Trade 

We are able to manage complex portfolios of high-end shipping work throughout the region. Clients can access a wide range of world class maritime legal services in relation to contentious and non-contentious matters. We also manage all aspects of ship financing.

Technology, Media & Telecommunications 

Our Technology and Telecommunications practice is one of the most established and respected practices in its field in the Asia Pacific region. With clients ranging from state governments and statutory boards to multinational corporations in the telecommunications, computer hardware and software sectors, we have been involved in many of the largest and most complex IT and telecommunications projects in recent years.

Trade

International trade in South East Asia has increased exponentially in recent years. ASEAN has become a major economic powerhouse, having enacted free trade agreements with China, Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, and Korea. With the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) now effective, the relook at the TPP in the form of the CPTPP and renewed interests in RCEP, the potential opportunities from China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, and the uncertainties of Brexit, the trading in South East Asia requires more thought and planning in navigating both international and local laws. Trade issues have also become nuanced with the explosion of e-commerce.

Our Trade Practice is a comprehensive practice that covers all aspects of the various trade and customs issues in Malaysia and the region. Through the Rajah & Tann Asia network, we are able to call on our colleagues in each South East Asian country, who have a wealth of experience in assisting clients to manage risks and maximise opportunities associated with the increasing regulation of international trade in goods and services regionally.

Other specialist practices

Christopher & Lee Ong can also advise on various specialist practice areas such as medical law, insurance, sports & entertainment and financial services.