Member of ASEAN Legal Alliance
A SINGAPORE FIRM WITH A FOCUS ON ASEAN, INDIA AND CHINA
ABOUT US
Aquinas Law Alliance LLP (“Aquinas Law”) is a medium size boutique law firm comprising lawyers from Singapore, Malaysia and China. The firm is named after an influential 13th century, philosopher, and legal theorist, St Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas Aquinas was a highly learned man in his time and shaped much of the thoughts on natural and divine laws. He developed the line of thinking that laws must be directed to the common good, to the happiness that is the goal of human actions. If laws are not for the common good they are unjust and hence not a law. We seek to emulate his qualities of advance thought in the laws and the understanding and implemetatio of the laws and how it should serve the common good and his relation of laws to life, with compassion.
At Aquinas Law, we are passionate about delivering the highest quality of legal work and providing efficient solutions to our clients. Our lawyers are committed to our clients and to each other as a team. We work across practice groups to achieve the aims, goals and objectives of our clients combining experience and expertise. We strive for constant self-improvement and pride ourselves on being cost-effective, efficient, responsive and diligent. We also assist our clients to adapt to and understand the business cultures in not only in Singapore, India and China but also in ASEAN. We aim to give you our clients our best and to be the best at what we do.
The 12 rays in our logo represent the 10 ASEAN countries with India and China which are our focus areas. The blue color represents dependability and reliability in our service.
While we are experienced in handling work specific to our respective jurisdictions, we also specialise in cross-border disputes and transactional work. Our lawyers are mostly previously from Dacheng Wong Alliance LLP, a Joint Law Venture between Dacheng Law Offices, China largest law firm, and Wong Alliance LLP, a Singapore full service law firm. Since 2014, we became the founding and Singapore member of the ASEAN Legal Alliance, an ASEAN-wide network of law firms. We are also a member of Prae Legal, a network of 252 established law firms in 141 countries worldwide. We are also associated with the Warwick Legal Network comprising of 39 law firms across 55 cities in Europe & America with 535 lawyers
The equity partners of Aquinas Law Alliance LLP set up Aquinas Holdings Pte Ltd as a holding company for three wholly owned subsidiary businesses that compliment the legal services that Aquinas Law provides. These subsidiaries are ALA Consulting Pte Ltd, ALA Advisors Pte Ltd and Ace Corp Sec Pte Ltd which was acquired in 2017.
ALA Consulting Pte Ltd
ALA Consulting Pte Ltd undertakes the following areas of work:
- trademark registration work in Singapore and the region
- intellectual property advisory work
- corporate support services
- translation of documents
- collation of information
- preparation of reports ranging from due diligence to market information to industry and company specific analysis
- corporate advisory and consultancy services
- advising companies on their market entry strategies in Singapore and the region
- advising companies on various operational aspects of doing business in a foreign country
- training and events
- conducting training for companies including cross-cultural business practices, masterclasses in arbitration and alternative dispute resolution
- organising events and seminars in Singapore and the region
ALA Advisors Pte Ltd
ALA Advisors Pte Ltd undertakes the following areas of work:
- corporate advisory work, advising companies on restructuring and fund-raising strategies
- family office advisory work, advising on implementation issues and investment requirements
- property investment, working with licenced professionals, offering strategies and guidance
- concierge services for HNWI clients
Ace Corp Sec Pte Ltd (to be renamed to ALA Corporate Services Pte Ltd)
Ace Corp Sec Pte Ltd undertakes the following areas of work:
- incorporation of private limited companies
- provision of company secretarial services
- provision of nominee director services
- provision of registered address services
- advisory work for Company Act compliance
Aquinas Law Alliance LLP (“Aquinas Law”) is a medium size boutique law firm comprising lawyers from Singapore, Malaysia and China. The firm is named after an influential 13th century, philosopher, and legal theorist, St Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas Aquinas was a highly learned man in his time and shaped much of the thoughts on natural and divine laws. He developed the line of thinking that laws must be directed to the common good, to the happiness that is the goal of human actions. If laws are not for the common good they are unjust and hence not a law. We seek to emulate his qualities of advance thought in the laws and the understanding and implemetatio of the laws and how it should serve the common good and his relation of laws to life, with compassion.
At Aquinas Law, we are passionate about delivering the highest quality of legal work and providing efficient solutions to our clients. Our lawyers are committed to our clients and to each other as a team. We work across practice groups to achieve the aims, goals and objectives of our clients combining experience and expertise. We strive for constant self-improvement and pride ourselves on being cost-effective, efficient, responsive and diligent. We also assist our clients to adapt to and understand the business cultures in not only in Singapore, India and China but also in ASEAN. We aim to give you our clients our best and to be the best at what we do.
The 12 rays in our logo represent the 10 ASEAN countries with India and China which are our focus areas. The blue color represents dependability and reliability in our service.
While we are experienced in handling work specific to our respective jurisdictions, we also specialise in cross-border disputes and transactional work. Our lawyers are mostly previously from Dacheng Wong Alliance LLP, a Joint Law Venture between Dacheng Law Offices, China largest law firm, and Wong Alliance LLP, a Singapore full service law firm. Since 2014, we became the founding and Singapore member of the ASEAN Legal Alliance, an ASEAN-wide network of law firms. We are also a member of Prae Legal, a network of 252 established law firms in 141 countries worldwide. We are also associated with the Warwick Legal Network comprising of 39 law firms across 55 cities in Europe & America with 535 lawyers
Aquinas Law Alliance LLP is a boutique Singapore law firm comprising a team of Singapore, India and China lawyers, paralegals and consultants. We have vast combined experience and work together across practice groups to provide cross-border or jurisdiction-specific advice and solutions in an efficient, cost-effective and timely manner. We put our clients first and are always looking for ways to serve them better. We look forward to assisting you with your matter.
ALOYSIUS WEE
Managing Partner
aloysius.wee@aquinaslaw.sg
UNIVERSITY OF KENT AT CANTERBURY – BA LAW & ECONOMICS (HONOURS)
BARRISTER AT LAW – MIDDLE TEMPLE
ASSOCIATE MEDIATOR – SINGAPORE MEDIATION CENTRE
COMMISSIONER FOR OATHS
NOTARY PUBLIC
Aloysius is the managing partner of boutique law firm, AQUINAS LAW ALLIANCE LLP. He previously was the managing principal of Dacheng Wong Alliance LLP, Singapore’s first China, Singapore joint venture law firm. He graduated from the University of Kent at Canterbury with a BA in Law & Economics and is a qualified barrister at law and admitted as an advocate and solicitor in Singapore in 1995.
His areas of practice are Intellectual Property Law, Corporate Law, Cross Border Commercial Transactions and Real Estate Transactions.
Aloysius has since 1997 advised on various development and investment projects for property developers, real estate players and hospitality companies in Singapore and the region.
He also advises on cross-border joint ventures and transactions and in the area of mergers and acquisitions of companies. Advising clients on entry strategies into China and investments in China is his current expertise given his network in China. He is actively involved in cross border corporate, real estate transactions and investments transactions, across China, India and the ASEAN region.
In 2009 he was named as one of the “Asia’s Hot 100 lawyers” by Asian Legal Business and in 2014, he was awarded a Property and Real Estate Lawyer of the Year by Finance Monthly.
Aloysius is one of the founders and the current chairperson of the ASEAN Legal Alliance, a network of 10 law firms in each of the 10 ASEAN countries coming together to offer a seamless delivery of legal service across a diverse cultural, geographical and legal backdrop.
He sits as a director in Tay Leck Teck Foundation and Verbum Dei Singapore Limited (a charity) and serves as a volunteer legal advisor to two other charities, the Muscular Dystrophy Association (Singapore) and the Realm of Tranquilty.
Aloysius sits as an independent director on various companies listed in Singapore and overseas. He has extensive experience in board matters for such listed entities having sat in various boards and an in various capacities, including as independent director, non-independent director and Chairman of various committees.
Aloysius is also a sought after speaker in areas like “Doing Business in China” and “ASEAN Integration”. He has presented various papers at international conferences in Singapore and overseas. Some of these include the Global Diaspora Summit 2009 in Singapore, the Global Diaspora Summit and Invest Shenyang Summit in 2010, China ASEAN Association Summit 2014 in Bangkok and recently the ASEAN Legal Alliance Legal Conference 2015 in Singapore.
He is also a regular contributor of articles on the law and legal issues of China, India and ASEAN contributing to trade journals, professional newsletters and online publications.
LIM KOK MENG
Partner
Advocate and Solicitor (Singapore)
kokmeng.lim@aquinaslaw.sg
PARTNER – HEAD OF CORPORATE PRACTICE GROUP
LL B (HONS), NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
Lim Kok Meng is a Partner of Aquinas Law Alliance LLP since July 2016. He graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2006 and was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2007.
Kok Meng is the Head of the Corporate Practice Group and his areas of practice include securities and debt offerings, securities regulations, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and corporate finance, banking and finance, loan syndications for Singapore and other ASEAN corporations, debt and corporate restructurings, corporate advisory work for listed companies as well corporate compliance and administration for private and public listed companies.
Kok Meng is fluent in both English and Mandarin. He has been involved in public offerings for corporations from the People’s Republic of China, Singapore and other countries, primary and secondary listings on the Singapore Exchange. He has conducted due diligence on numerous projects.
He has also advised on major mergers and acquisition cross border transactions involving parties of different nationalities and on shareholders’ rights and disputes.
In addition, Kok Meng has many years of experience in advising on secured and syndicated loan transactions and guarantees, structured finance and project finance. He has acted for many international banks in drafting and advising on standard form documentation for general banking transactions.
Kok Meng is also actively involved in the provision of company administrative services to local companies, being a company secretary to several companies listed on the Singapore Exchange.
Contact:
Tel: +65 6535 9887
Email: kokmeng.lim@aquinaslaw.sg
LIM TONG CHUAN
Partner
Head of Dispute Resolution Practice Group
tongchuan.lim@aquinaslaw.sg
PARTNER – HEAD OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION PRACTICE GROUP
UNIVERSITY OF BRUNEL, ENGLAND – LL.B. (HONOURS)
BARRISTER-AT-LAW (INNER TEMPLE) – ENGLAND & WALES
ADVOCATE & SOLICITOR – HIGH COURT OF MALAYA
ADVOCATE & SOLICITOR – SINGAPORE
SOLICITOR – HONG KONG
FELLOW OF SINGAPORE INSTITUTE OF ARBITRATORS
Tong Chuan is a partner of AQUINAS LAW ALLIANCE LLP and is Head of the Dispute Resolution Practice Group. He was also previously, the Head of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution department at Tan Peng Chin LLC.
Tong Chuan was admitted as a Barrister-at-Law in England & Wales in 1991, as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in 1992, as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2001 and as a Solicitor in Hong Kong in 2017. He was also admitted as a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators in 2016.
Tong Chuan has practised in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. He specializes in litigation and dispute resolution. His areas of practice include arbitration, construction, commercial and contractual disputes, banking, insolvency and liquidation, shareholders’ disputes, insurance, intellectual property, real property & leases, contentious & non-contentious probate, family law and civil matters, amongst others.
Tong Chuan has acted for the governments of various countries and multi-national companies in many notable cases, including landmark decisions touching on the sovereignty of Taiwan, the applicability in Singapore of the double-actionability rule in tort (in conflict of laws) and the definition of ‘materiality’ and ‘accident’ in insurance law, for example.
DATO’ SRI MATTHEW YEOH
Partner
Advocate & Solicitor (Singapore and Malaya)
rmatthew.yeoh@aquinaslaw.sg
LLB. (HONS) WALES, BARRISTER-AT-LAW (LINCOLN’S INN)
ADVOCATE & SOLICITOR (SINGAPORE AND MALAYA)
HON. F.ISPENG (USA) CIPS (USA), FIABCI
Dato’ Sri Matthew Yeoh advises clients in diverse issues ranging foreign investment laws, wealth and asset protection, offshore trusts, for clients from Singapore, Malaysia, and the ASEAN region.
In Aquinas Law Alliance, where Matthew is a partner, he practices in the Private Client and Real Estate Practice Group. He has many years of experience in the property and legal industries and advises clients on property investments, property financing and structuring for investing in cross-border property assets. Matthew also advises on alternative sources of funding for projects from retail investors using offshore trusts and custodian services.
He is a member of the Malaysian Business Council in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and is well-connected with the diplomatic and business community in China and ASEAN. He is a Certified International Property Specialist, a member of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) and a licensed migration agent. He writes regularly for magazines and other foreign publications and has been invited to speak at various conferences and seminars both locally and abroad on diverse topics ranging from retirement and relocation, cross-border investments wealth and assets protection and offshore trusts. Matthew is the founding partner and currently a consultant of Yeoh Mazlina & Partners in Malaysia, an established full-service law practice in Malaysia.
His recent work includes being a founder member of the ASEAN Legal Alliance, which is a membership of 10 leading law firms in each of the countries in ASEAN, the chairperson of the Private Clients, Wealth Management and International Real Estate Practice Group in the ASEAN Legal Alliance.
Contact:
Tel: +65 6535 9887
