Jeff Leong, Poon & Wong

Jeff Leong, Poon & Wong, a law firm in Kuala Lumpur, was founded in 1999 by 3 founder partners who were part of the regional cross-border team of a leading law firm in South East Asia with experience in cross-border investments, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets. From an initial team of 3 founder partners, the Firm has prospered and grown to over 40 lawyers comprising 11 Partners with offices in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

The Firm, with seasoned and experienced lawyers well versed with the needs of businesses through booms, busts and economic recovery, advises foreign investors, multinational companies, foreign law firms, SMEs and industrial conglomerates, public listed companies, government-linked companies, commercial, investment and Islamic banks, stockbroking companies, insurance and reinsurance companies etc. on complex business transactions and dispute resolution. In cross cultural deals, their English, Chinese, Bahasa Malaysia, Japanese, Indonesian and Myanmar language capabilities facilitate clear and open communication.

The Firm is the sole member firm of the Interlex Group® in Malaysia. The Interlex Group® is an association of leading law firms around the world that cooperate to provide a complete range of international legal and business services to clients.

Main Areas of Practice

The Firm’s areas of practice include corporate & commercial, corporate finance, corporate governance & regulatory compliance, banking & finance, construction admiralty & shipping, employment & human resource, foreign investment, general counsel services, information technology & telecommunications, insolvency & restructuring, insurance & reinsurance, litigation and commercial arbitration, mergers and acquisitions, project finance & infrastructure, real estate, securities & investment law, takeovers & takeover defence and crisis management services.

Corporate & Securities

The Corporate & Securities Department acts regularly in IPOs, Capital Raisings, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Restructurings and other general corporate & commercial transactions for the Malaysian corporate sector. The Firm is well versed in corporate finance and securities transactions and major in undertaking due diligence for submissions to the Securities Commission in Malaysia in relation to initial public offerings, capital raising transactions, mergers and acquisitions and bond issues.

In the past 21 years, the Firm has worked on over 50 successful initial public offerings and listings of companies on Bursa Malaysia and foreign stock exchanges.

The Corporate & Securities department, which is headed by Senior Partners, Jeff Leong and Kenny Poon comprises several teams of lawyers who are trained in multi-disciplinary legal practice and dedicated to meeting the specific needs of each client. The other key Partners in the department including Seen Yin, Eileen Tan and Alicia Teoh are also actively involved in IPO exercises in Malaysia and have assisted in IPO exercises in other jurisdiction including Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Debt Capital & Financial Services

The key Partners involved in Debt Capital matters including bonds and sukuks are James Wong and Eileen Tan, who have acted for and regularly advise issuers of debt securities. Some notable transactions which the Firm were involved in include a Medium Term Notes Programme and a Commercial Papers Programme with a combined limit of RM3.0 Billion by Sabah Development Bank Berhad, a state-owned company and a proposed RM1.0 Billion Musyarakah Commercial Paper/ Medium Term Notes Programme by a special purpose vehicle established to finance construction contracts of a construction public listed company and its subsidiaries.

The lawyers in the Firm also have vast experience representing commercial and investment banks and other financial institutions in handling various types of financing transactions, from property development to shipping and aircraft financing. Nancy Yeo, the Firm's Banking Partner has a wealth of experience in corporate and commercial banking, retail banking and real estate matters including development projects, commercial leasing and property financing ranging from bridging loans to end financing.

Real Estate

The Firm's Real Estate department, headed by Senior Partner, James Wong has vast experience in real estate law practice and they frequently act for developers and investors in the development and sale or letting of commercial, residential and industrial property. The Firm has handled various forms and sizes of property projects, property development and property investments and often get involved from the commencement of construction to the end of the development.

Dispute Resolution

The Firm's Dispute Resolution Practice Group of the Firm, headed by Tan Hui Wen, Ganesh Nathan and R. Rajasurian have substantial experience and expertise in representing clients from all manner of industries, in areas including corporate and shareholder disputes, commercial disputes, contractual and banking disputes, insolvency and restructuring, shipping and tax disputes. The Firm is also able to represent clients in arbitrations and disputes before the Singapore International Commercial Court.