Lawyers:

Tan, Bernard Thiam Swee – Banking and finance, Corporate and M&A (Elite Practitioner)
Peng, E-Rue – Corporate and M&A (Rising Star)

AsiaLaw Awards 2021:

Client Service Excellence Awards:
Firm of the Year: Brunei – Abrahams, Davidson & Co.
Lawyer of the Year: Brunei – Bernard Tan

Analysis:

Analysis

Overview

Established in 1986, Abrahams, Davidson & Co. remains one of the leading law firms in Brunei. The firm’s core practice areas are corporate, commercial, banking and finance, and property development. Managing Partner Bernard Tan wins praise from clients and peers alike as a steady, knowledgeable and experienced practitioner who frequently leads the firm’s key cases and deals. Suan Chin, Tan is another key partner for real estate, and banking and finance. Consultant James Chiew is known in the market for his securities and Islamic finance expertise.

General business law

Work highlights

Advised United Overseas Bank and several other financial institutions on regulatory aspects and cross-border commercial rules.

Acted for a leading US investment bank on a derivative transaction with a local employee provident fund.

Provided counsel to EFG Bank on an analysis of Brunei laws with respect to Islamic credit and financing products.

Key Clients

Key clients
Amazon Web Services, Bank of China, Commerzbank

Financial and Corporate (Tier 1)

Leading Lawyers:

Bernard Tan
– Investment Funds, Banking, M&A (Market Leader)
– Ranked under IFLR Asia Best Lawyers 2021 for Brunei jurisdiction

Reviews:

Financial and Corporate

Established in 1986, Abrahams, Davidson & Co. is a market-leading firm in financial and corporate work. The firm’s office is located in Bandar Seri Begawan and houses a team of three partners.

Focuses/Specialisms

The firm is active in the financial and corporate space and has experience in sectors including agriculture, aviation, insurance, and banking and financial services.

Key clients

Notable clients include United Overseas Bank, Commerzbank, EFG Bank, Bank of China, and Amazon Web Services.

Research period review: 31st edition (2020/2021)

The firm was busy with advising several international clients on regulatory compliance matters, assisting international institutions on derivatives transactions with local funds, and advising an MNC on a cross border restructuring.

Abrahams, Davidson & Co. has a wealth of experience of working with local and international clients on all areas of corporate and commercial law as well as securities, banking and funds work. The firm also excels in advising on major property developments and frequently advises local and foreign contractors on residential developments as well as on civil engineering projects for Government agencies. Bernard Tan is the firm’s managing partner and heads the corporate and commercial department as well as its securities and funds practice. Tan Suan Chin is a key contact in the firm’s banking and conveyancing department. Ahmad Basuni Hj Abbas is another name to note and oversees the litigation department covering both criminal and civil matters.

Practice head(s):

Bernard Tan; Tan Suan Chin

Other key lawyers:

Ahmad Basuni Hj Abbas

Key clients:

United Overseas Bank Limited, International Services, S.a.r.l., Commerzbank AG Singapore Branch, Islamic Development Bank, EFG Bank AG, Lexoo Limited, MUFG Bank Ltd, Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Amazon Web Services, Viet Thai International Joint Stock Company

Work highlights:

Advised United Overseas Bank Limited on cross-border rules of engagement in Brunei in relation to its private banking business and retail personal financial services business.

Advised Commerzbank on Brunei laws and regulations concerning the cross-border marketing of relevant financial products offered by Commerzbank.

Advised EFG Bank on a jurisdictional analysis of the Brunei laws in respect of the granting of Islamic credit and financing products under the Murabaha principles to Brunei corporates and individuals.

Lawyers:

Tan, Bernard Thiam Swee – Banking and finance, Corporate and M&A (Elite Practitioner)
Peng, E-Rue – Corporate and M&A (Notable Practitioner)

Analysis:

General business law

Work highlights

Advised Viet Thai International JSC on its local law-governed franchise agreements related to its acquisition of International Coffee & Tea.

Represented an international energy company on its proposed acquisition of shares in a regional exploration and production company. It also conducted exceptions-basis due diligence on the Brunei Subsidiary.

Advised and reviewed a biotech entity, CSL Behring, on its regulatory and distribution arrangement in Brunei.

Assisted First Abu Dhabi Bank on its cross-border offerings into Brunei and the enforceability of ISDA master agreements and close-out netting.

Key clients

Boeing Company, Franklin Templeton International Services, MUFG Bank.

Client feedback

“Prompt and clear response.” – Banking and Finance

“The firm is absolutely professional, organized, reliable, responsive and without any doubt, capable in its provision of quality legal services. The firm demonstrates a willingness to go the extra mile.” – Banking and Finance

“It provided clear advice and were prompt in its turnaround times.” – Corporate and M&A

“The team provided sound legal advice in general and had good knowledge of the law. The team was very responsive and was able to meet tight deadlines.” – Corporate and M&A

“Very responsive, commercial and professional.” – Regulatory

E-Rue Peng

“She is a hardworking lawyer, who demonstrates a high level of competence and is apt in delivering quality legal services.”

“Very responsive and attentive.”

Yvonne Sim

“Yvonne is very responsive to email and was able to meet tight deadlines. She also has sound legal knowledge and ability in general.”

Bernard Tan

“Clear, prompt and commercial advice.”

Financial and Corporate (Tier 1)

Leading Lawyers:

Bernard Tan – Investment Funds, Banking, M&A (Market Leader)

Recent Deal Data highlights

Aboitiz Equity Ventures acquisition of Gold Coin Feedmill

Philippine holding company Aboitiz Equity Ventures has acquired privately owned agribusinesses Gold Coin Feedmill for an undisclosed sum.

General Business Law (Outstanding)
Banking and Financial Services (Highly Recommended)
Infrastructure (Recommended)
Real Estate (Recommended)

Leading Lawyers:

Bernard Tan – Banking and finance, Corporate and M&A (Elite Practitioner)

Analysis:

General business law

Work highlights

Advised Australia and New Zealand Banking Group on issues related to its derivatives trading with entities incorporated and registered in Brunei.

Advised ThyssenKrupp Singapore on the Brunei laws and regulations in relation to its proposed construction and operational activities of its fertiliser project in Brunei.

Advised DotC Holding on its acquisition of a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands with a Brunei subsidiary. The firm conducted due diligence on the company.

Advised State Street Trust (SG) on the duties and obligations of a trustee in the marketing of its unit trusts to the public according to the applicable Brunei laws and regulations.

Key clients
Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Avolon Aerospace Leasing, European Investment Fund, Lufthansa Technik, Prudential Assurance Company Singapore, Solar Turbine, State Street Globallink Asia

Tier 1 firm since 2007

Financial and Corporate (Tier 1)

Leading Lawyers:

Bernard Tan – Investment Funds, Banking, M&A (Market Leader)

Financial and Corporate:

Abrahams Davidson & Co is a market leading firm in financial and corporate work.

The firm has experience in advising international clients on a host of matters including investments and joint ventures, syndicated loans, bonds, Islamic financing, regulatory compliance, and projects.

During the research period the firm advised on matters related to acquisitions, regulatory compliance, aircraft leasing and market entry. Key sectors of activity include agriculture, aviation, insurance, and banking and financial services.

Recent Deal Data highlights

Aboitiz Equity Ventures acquisition of Gold Coin Feedmill

Client feedback

“The law firm’s work is generally good and the lawyers are generally responsive.” – Financial services regulatory

“Very clear, concise and properly thought through legal opinion. Extremely well drafted as well so that definitely saves the client a lot of time when seeking to do transactional/legal diligence in Brunei.” – Financial services regulatory

“The law firm’s work is satisfactory. The law firm is responsive and delivers sound advice.” – Banking

Bernard Tan
“This lawyer has a good understanding of the local market practices and local laws. The lawyer is responsive and delivers sound and practical advice.”

Leading Firm in Brunei (Tier 1)

Abrahams, Davidson & Co. ’s core strength is in banking, property development and corporate work. Other areas of expertise include commercial law and securities as well as funds advice for both local and international clients. Bernard Tan is the firm’s managing partner and heads the firm’s corporate and commercial practice in addition to its securities and funds department. Suan Chin Tan is another known name and leads the firm’s banking and conveyancing department. Ahmad Basuni Hj Abbas’s experience spans commercial work as well as conventional and Islamic banking.

Practice head(s):
Bernard Tan; Tan Suan Chin
Other key lawyers:
Ahmad Basuni Hj Abbas

Key clients
European Investment Fund, State Street Trust (SG) Limited, State Street Globallink Asia Pacific Limited, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc., Solar Turbine Inc. (subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc.), Lufthansa Technik AG, Prudential Assurance Company, Singapore, ThyssenKrupp Singapore Pte. Ltd, Avolon Aerospace Leasing Limited, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, Citibank NA and Citicorp, Bank of America/ Merrill Lynch

Work highlights

• Advised the European Investment Fund on the marketing of its fund under Brunei securities law.
• Advised Aboitiz Equity Ventures on the indirect acquisition of Gold Coin Feedmill (Brunei) Sdn Bhd and conducted due diligence on the Brunei subsidiary.
• Advised State Street Trust (Sg) Limited on the duties and obligations of a trustee in relation to the marketing of its unit trusts to the public under the applicable Brunei laws and regulations.
• Advised State Street Globallink Asia Pacific Limited on its proposed offering of FX and metals trading platforms and other market data services.
• Advised DotC Holding Limited on a proposed acquisition of a Cayman Island-incorporated company with a Brunei subsidiary by conducting legal due diligence on the company.

General Business Law (Outstanding)
Banking and Financial Services (Highly Recommended)
Infrastructure (Recommended)
Real Estate (Recommended)

Ranked Lawyers:

Bernard Tan – Banking and finance, Corporate and M&A (Elite Practitioner)

Analysis:

General business law

Work highlights

Advised for Baiduri Bank on its acquisition of the retail, commercial and hire purchase assets from HSBC Brunei and HSBC Finance in Brunei

Advised Willis Lease Finance Corporation on a financing and securitisation involving its lease assets with the local national carrier.

Advised Muara Port Company on its leasing, shareholder and employment matters.

Advised Noble Drilling on the corporate restructuring of its Brunei subsidiary, including amending its articles of association, drafting the shareholders agreement, a call option agreement and all ancillary documents.

Key clients
Bank of China, BRP Bizzozero & Partners, Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions.

Financial and Corporate (Tier 1)

Leading Lawyers:

Bernard Tan – Investment Funds, Banking, M&A (Market Leader)

Financial and Corporate:

Abrahams, Davidson & Co. is one of the foremost firms in Brunei.

In M&A, the firm acted for Baiduri Bank in the acquisition of assets from HSBC.

An interesting deal saw the firm advising Thyssenkrupp on establishing a plant fertilizer production facility.

Notable clients include Bank of China, Baiduri Bank Berhad, Bank Julius Baer Singapore and Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions.

Leading Firm in Brunei

Abrahams, Davidson & Co. is one of the largest full-service law firms in Brunei. The team’s core areas of expertise include corporate and commercial advisory work, as well as considerable experience in finance, securities and investment mandates. The practice routinely advises major national and international clients on complex deals, Islamic financing and fund formations. Managing partner Bernard Tan heads the firm’s corporate and commercial department as well as its securities and funds practice.

Ranked in the Asialaw ALP Awards 2017 – Brunei Firm of the Year

Banking & Finance (Outstanding)
Construction & Real Estate (Outstanding)
Corporate / M&A (Outstanding)
Dispute Resolution & Litigation (Highly Recommended)

Leading Lawyers:

Ahmad Basuni bin Hj Abbas – Banking & finance, Corporate / M&A (Market-leading Lawyer)
Bernard Tan – Banking & finance, Corporate / M&A (Leading Lawyer)
Tan Suan Chin – Banking & finance (Market-leading Lawyer)

Analysis:

Banking & Finance

Abrahams, Davidson & Co. is one of the strongest law firms in banking and finance in Brunei for both domestic and cross border matters. Bernard Tan is the leading partner at the firm who specialises in banking and corporate practice with experience in Malaysia and Brunei securities and mutual funds laws as well as structured finance and M&A. Tan advised Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank on a banking survey in carrying out certain activities in Brunei. Tan also advised Standard Chartered Bank (Brunei) on the legal documentation matters in partaking in an Islamic structured finance product (Sukuk documentation) issued by the Brunei Government. Other leading lawyers at the firm include Ahmad Basuni Hj Abbas and Tan Suan Chin.

Construction & Real Estate

Abrahams, Davidson & Co.’s property development team advises and prepares legal documentation for a range of construction and real estate transactions including sale lease and development. Tan Suan Chin heads the banking and conveyancing practice and has more than 23 years of practice experience both in Singapore and Brunei.

Corporate / M&A

Leading corporate firm Abrahams, Davidson & Co. has significant experience in advising on acquisition of local banks, vesting of assets involving foreign bank branches, joint venture and project agreements. Leading partner Bernard Tan advised on the sale of G4S Group Holding’s equity and business to local investors. Tan also advised SBI Islamic Fund II on the arrangement of a new $100 million USD dollar denominated Islamic private equity fund. Tan and his team prepared all the necessary fund documentation and placement memorandum.

Dispute Resolution & Litigation

Abrahams, Davidson & Co. provides regular expert opinion and acts for clients before the High Court in areas such as construction, intellectual property, infrastructure, and corporate law. Ahmad Basuni Hj Abbas leads on litigation matters at the firm and has more than 22 years of experience.

Financial and Corporate (Tier 1)

Leading Lawyers:

Bernard Tan – Investment Funds, Banking, M&A (Highly regarded)

Financial and Corporate (Tier 1)

Financial and Corporate:
Abrahams, Davidson & Co. continues to be one of the leading firms in Brunei. The corporate and commercial practice at the firm, alongside banking, property development and securities and funds, are regarded as the firm’s core practices.

The firm has three partners who continue to deal in high end corporate deals which include a joint venture transaction that crosses into different jurisdictions whereby ADCO acted as local counsel.

The firm also advised AMEC Group on corporate acquisition deal of the Scorpus Group, which is an oil and gas services company with operations in Brunei amongst several countries.

Moving into 2015, ADCO advised Expro International Group in a $1.5 billion credit facilities refinancing deal with a group of syndicated lenders. Bernard Tan led the transaction. In a separate transaction, Tan also acted as local counsel for CDS industries, a Korean company in its acquisition of a local company in an offshore oil project.

Financial and Corporate (Tier 1)

Financial and Corporate:
The corporate practice at Abrahams, Davidson & Co. (ADCO) maintains its strong position amongst the leading firms in Brunei. The firm has three key partners and Bernard Tan is best known for corporate and commercial work. In banking, Tan works alongside managing partner Ahmad Basuni Hj Abbas, a litigation and intellectual property legal practitioner and partner Tan Suan Chin, who also covers conveyancing and property development matters.

Highlight deals in 2013 include advising a confidential client on a multi-jurisdictional restructuring of loan facilities worth between $991 million and $1.19 billion. In an inbound investment deal, Tan represented Japanese company Soy & World International in a joint venture with Brunei dairy company Al-Hana Enterprise, establishing Hana Soy & World.

No stranger to big domestic deals, ADCO also advised Bruneian Hengyi Industries in a land lease agreement with The Brunei Economic Development Board. This is the second petrochemical project in Brunei. It involved the leasing of 260-hectares of land at the Pulau Muara Besar to Hengyi Industries for the purpose of developing and operating an integrated crude oil refinery and aromatics complex.

ADCO also dealt with a couple of IT and telecommunication related deals, one of the few sectors the government of Brunei announced to grow last year.

Banking & Finance (Highly Recommended)
Construction & Real Estate (Highly Recommended)
Corporate / M&A (Highly Recommended)
IT, Telco & Media (Highly Recommended)

Abrahams, Davidson & Co. is a leading firm in Brunei recognized for its corporate and commercial, real estate and litigation practices. It has expertise in both conventional and Islamic financings.

The firm is “excellent”, a client says. “Highly recommended to anyone who needs legal advice”.

Managing partner Ahmad Basuni Hj Abbas has over 22 years of experience, with areas of practice including commercial work, banking, litigation, conveyancing and intellectual property.

Partner Bernard Tan looks after the firm’s corporate and commercial practice. He acts on corporate and commercial, securities and funds, banking, conveyancing and property development matters.

Clients have praised Tan for his technical skills, “ability to innovate” and for being “very responsive”. He recently advised as Brunei counsel to Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation in a US$1.36billion deal in relation to the establishment of a joint venture in ASEAN and the United States between the client and BlueScope Steel in Australia, which will be headquartered in Singapore.

Tan has advised, drafted and provided training on a sharia law-compliant Musyarakah Mutanaqisah, an Islamic financing product, for Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam.

Abrahams, Davidson has also been active advising on securities and derivatives transactions between foreign banks and sovereign wealth funds.

The firm’s information technology, telecommunications and media practice has been involved in advising national telecommunications service provider, Telekom Brunei, on a range of matters.

Tan and Nor Suhaila Latiff have recently been involved in a major ongoing project involving the commissioning of the planned phase 2 “Fibre to Home Project”, involving the installation of a broadband fibre optic network infrastructure in homes and businesses throughout the country.

With considerable industry experience, the firm continues to be fought after by clients on major real estate and constructions projects. Partner Tan Suan Chin heads the firm’s banking and conveyancing development.

Financial and Corporate (Tier 1)

Financial and Corporate:
Abrahams, Davidson & Co. is Brunei’s premier law firm, which clients applaud for being “excellent” and “highly recommended”. Peers at rival firms acknowledge Abrahams, Davidson’s strength in corporate advisory, banking and conveyance work.

The firm has been particularly active in advising on several securities and derivatives transactions between foreign banks and sovereign wealth funds.

Abrahams, Davidson’s information, communication and technology practice remains very active. The partners continue to be heavily involved in advising on transactional documentation for a range of services for the national telecommunications service provider, Telekom Brunei.

A recent major engagement involved the firm advising on the commissioning of the planned Phase 2 “Fibre to Home Project”, which encompasses the construction and provision of a fibre optic broadband network infrastructure which will connect homes and businesses in Brunei. Bernard Tan, one of Brunei’s leading lawyers, was involved in this transaction. Tan play a pivotal role in Abrahams, Davidson’s corporate commercial, securities / funds and banking practice.

Considered to be an overall tier 1 corporate lawyer, one client praised the partner for “his technical skills, ability to innovate, and responsiveness”. Tan has provided advice to Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam and the Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (Japan). The latter saw him acting as Brunei counsel in a joint venture in Asia and the US between said corporation and BlueScope Steel in Australia.

Ahmad Basuni Hj Abbas is managing partner at Abrahams, Davidson and manages the litigation, banking, conveyancing and IP practices at the firm.