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UK and US firms win Singapore licences

Just another interim step If you look at the law firms which were not among the 6, such as Links, O'Melveny, Jones Day, DLA Piper, it becomes clear that the QFLP program is not the be-all, end-all for the liberalization of the Singapore market. That will happen when Singapore finally embraces the HK model and realizes that their lawyers have achieved sufficient quality at a much cheaper cost structure to compete against the offshore firms. It would have been much better to bite the bullet, allow full liberalization and unleash the potential of the young, talented crop of Singapore lawyers stuck in their anachronistic Asian-style leverage schemes. They don't need protection, and the increased number of foreign lawyers operating in SG will inevitably convince the SG law firms and their clients as such. Until then, we will have another 5 years of this interim, halfway approach.

8-Dec-2008

8:44 am