On March 13, Eddie Lim, the executive director of Singapore-based Credence Consulting, along with advisory teams including Hovie Chen, Nana Chen, and Eason Lim, visited Longan (Guangzhou) Law Firm in Beijing. Ye Peng, a senior partner at Longan Guangzhou, and Jin Li, a partner and director of the Longan Bay ASEAN Law Research Center, led the Jin Sheng Law Firm team. They received the visitors with professionalism and enthusiasm. The two parties engaged in in-depth discussions on key issues such as foreign-related legal services in Southeast Asia under the Belt and Road Initiative, the cooperation models between local professional institutions and these services, and the practical challenges faced by Chinese enterprises investing in Southeast Asia (especially Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Laos). Many professional agreements were reached during these discussions.
During the exchange, the Jin Sheng Law Firm team warmly welcomed the visit of Credence Consulting. They also described in detail the capabilities and achievements of the law firm and its team in providing foreign-related legal services in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative. They highlighted the professional services and practical experience of the team in helping Chinese enterprises invest in Southeast Asia. Through typical service cases, they demonstrated their deep understanding of the legal systems, regulatory rules, and business environments of Southeast Asian countries, as well as their expertise in providing comprehensive legal support for Chinese enterprises’ investments in that region.
Eddie Lim, the executive director, based on his twenty-year experience in financial services regulation in Singapore, explained in detail the core strengths and localized services of Credence Consulting. Credence Consulting specializes in financial services in Singapore and Southeast Asia. It has a well-established service system and numerous practical cases in areas such as financial institution license applications, establishment of Variable Capital Companies (VCCs), Single Family Office services, local tax and financial compliance, outsourcing compliance, and anti-money laundering. Eddie Lim also had a precise understanding of the application processes for various licenses from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, as well as the tax and financial incentives and regulatory trends in Southeast Asian countries. To address the challenges faced by Chinese enterprises investing in Southeast Asia, Eddie Lim shared Credence Consulting’s localized solutions for adapting to policy changes, meeting local tax and financial compliance requirements, and efficiently obtaining licenses. This provided valuable insights from a local perspective for the Jin Sheng Law Firm team.
The two parties engaged in in-depth discussions on key practical issues. On one hand, they discussed the challenges faced by foreign lawyers in handling business related to the Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia and the cooperation with local advisory firms. They exchanged ideas on cooperation mechanisms, service integration, cross-border compliance and risk management, and information sharing efficiency. On the other hand, they analyzed the actual challenges faced by Chinese enterprises investing in Southeast Asia. They discussed various aspects such as operational challenges due to differences in social and cultural environments, strategies for adapting to dynamic policy changes, methods for implementing local tax and financial compliance systems, and the application and regulatory requirements for licenses. Through these discussions, both parties gained new perspectives on solving the complex challenges faced by Chinese enterprises investing in Southeast Asia. This laid a solid foundation for future professional cooperation between the two parties.
This exchange event successfully created a high-level and effective dialogue platform between Longan Guangzhou and well-known financial services institutions in Singapore. In the future, Longan Guangzhou will take this as an opportunity to further deepen its regular and structured cooperation with Credence Consulting. By integrating their professional strengths, they will provide more targeted, professional, and practical one-stop solutions for Chinese enterprises’ investments in Southeast Asia. This will contribute to economic and trade cooperation and connectivity in Southeast Asia under the Belt and Road Initiative.