Conference programme

The panellists will discuss the resilience of the Indian economy in light of global headwinds. Discussions will cover steps taken by the RBI and other regulators to deal with liquidity issues, poverty alleviation, non-performing assets, macroeconomic challenges, etc, and will also include an industry perspective. The session will also address issues associated with attracting foreign direct investment and efficiently resolving disputes through the Indian court/arbitral process.

This session will feature a practical discussion on commonly used dispute resolution clauses in different types of commercial agreements and best practices from different parts of the world. The panel will deal with case studies where ambiguities in dispute resolution clauses have posed enforcement challenges and have landed parties in trouble. It will also cover exit provisions in Indian M&A and joint venture contracts, which although not entirely legitimate from a regulatory perspective are, nevertheless, sought to be enforced.

This panel will discuss the various types of M&A transactions in the major Asia Pacific countries, including India, China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.

• Are they mainly distressed deals or are Western MNCs buying companies to increase their Asia market share?
• What sectors are seeing activity?
• Is there any outbound activity?
• What issues are impacting M&A?
• Are there many disputes on exits?
• Are Asian promoters more aggressive than necessary?

This panel will discuss issues surrounding non-performing loans and why banks have had difficulties in recovering their funds from companies and promoters.

• Do laws need to be tightened and how can lending and security creation be made more robust in India, China and the Asia Pacific region.
• Are insolvency laws (especially India’s new insolvency code) strong enough?
• Can company promoters be made personally liable for corporate default (eg, Sahara and Kingfisher)?
• What are the issues and challenges in asset-tracing and eventual recovery?

This panel will discuss the burgeoning e-commerce businesses and the social media boom in the Asia Pacific region.

• Are these business models here to stay?
• Is social media invading people’s privacy?
• Is the right to be forgotten relevant in the Asian context?
• Are brick and mortar companies under threat and can regulatory barriers against digital economy companies be successfully enforced?
• Is the law able to play catch up with new and evolving modes of digital business such as the shared economy businesses, aggregators/marketplaces, driverless cars, drones, etc? 

The session will also deal with complicated issues of allocation of liability and jurisdictional challenges in enforcement.

This panel will discuss the changes taking place in the global legal market, namely, the manner in which clients are dealing with outside counsel, the changes in fee structures, the manner in which legal advice is being sought, use of Artificial Intelligence by global law firms, talent retention, opaque management structures prevalent in many Asian law firms, impact of foreign law firms,etc. The panel will also assess what the law firm of the next decade will look like.

This panel will discuss the viability of large-scale infrastructure projects.

• Why are so many infrastructure companies facing difficult times?
• Is it just due to the commodities crash or are there more fundamental issues?
• Is there a way to fast-track the dispute resolution processes to free up the cash-flows of SPVs?
• Is renewable energy here to stay and will it affect traditional energy players?
• Are governments doing enough and are their policies robust?
• Are there challenges in the very aggressive push towards solar and renewable energy by various governments?
• What legal and regulatory reforms can help India achieve its target of full electrification?

This session will comprise entirely of experienced GCs from different sectors and nationalities, some of whom have responsibilities that are Asia wide and not just for India. The panel will discuss the changing role and growing importance of in-house counsel in the modern day corporate world. It will cover client expectations, value addition possibilities, billing issues, real life stories of how law firms have lost or won business from them, etc.

This session will discuss the recent developments in India pertaining to arbitration. What is the impact of the 2016 arbitration law changes and has this reduced the challenges in the enforcement of foreign awards? Moreover, has India’s new law helped check the exodus of international arbitration work from India to Singapore, London and other jurisdictions? Do international arbitral institutions now have reasons to worry?

This session will look at employment laws in the Asia Pacific region:

• Are they are in sync with the digital workplace?
• Can companies adequately protect their IP and trade secrets when employees move countries and organisations?
• Are immigration laws up to speed or do they create artificial barriers?
• What tax issues arise when employees are tax resident in more than one country?