Looking to the year ahead, Baker McKenzie commissioned a survey of 600 senior lawyers across the globe and uncovered that corporations expect more disputes this year, driven by economic uncertainty, global trade shifts and altered business models. Disputes around cybersecurity/data and ESG rank as emerging risk areas, while tax and employment disputes remain a constant consideration for organizations. To help stay abreast of emerging challenges and prepare to navigate the changing disputes landscape, join our experts across the globe in a series of webinars as they unpack findings from our latest report, The Year Ahead: Global Disputes Forecast 2023, and uncover a practical, actionable way forward.

In the recent decision of Goh Ngak Eng v Public Prosecutor [2022] SGHC 254, the Singapore High Court declined to employ the existing sentencing framework for private sector corruption offences involving agents under section 6 of the PCA as set out in Takaaki Masui v. Public Prosecutor and another appeal and other matters [2021] 4 SLR 160.
Section 6 of the PCA criminalizes the actions of agents who corruptly receive or give gratification as an inducement or reward for performing or withholding performance in relation to their principal’s affairs or business.
In developing a new framework, the High Court cautioned that the sentencing exercise is not meant to be seen as a mathematical equation; sentencing frameworks are only meant to serve as guides and should not be used to produce a mathematically precise formula that identifies a precise point for the sentencing court to arrive at in each case.

The Ministry of Manpower, on 23 November 2022, accepted the 12 recommendations proposed by the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers in its report Strengthening Protections For Platform Workers issued on 17 November 2022. The 12 recommendations in the Report aim to provide basic protections to platform workers in the following areas: (i) adequate financial protection in case of work injury, (ii) improved retirement and housing adequacy, and (iii) enhanced representation.

Addressing whistleblower complaints has quickly become front and center for companies in Asia Pacific. Research shows that it is increasingly apparent that whistleblowing programs need to adapt and evolve with the legal and regulatory landscape, and it is vital that management implements a regular review of those programs. Explore Baker McKenzie’s custom research, conducted in collaboration with Acuris Studios, based on responses from 523 senior executives from companies in Asia Pacific.

The Code of Practice: Chief Executives’ and Board of Directors’ Workplace Safety and Health Duties will, when gazetted in October 2022, apply to all directors and equivalent officers involved in policy making and executive decisions for business affairs of companies in all industries, even for companies which have no manual work and little risk of physical injury.

Across the world, trade secrets are becoming increasingly important. As companies align workforce transformation, manage supply chain operations and balance the needs of their digital transformation journey, new strategies are required for the identification, protection and enforcement of their most valuable, complex and market-differentiating trade secrets.
In this series of bite-sized videos, hear from Baker McKenzie’s global trade secrets team across disputes, intellectual property, data and technology and employment and compensation on best practices for a strategic, multidisciplinary approach to manage your trade secrets, disputes and risks.
Learn more about our Global Trade Secrets Group and uncover regional trends through the video below:
Best Practices for Maintaining Trade Secrets

Our Asia Pacific Employment & Compensation Team is pleased to provide you with our second quarterly update for 2022 highlighting key employment law changes across the Asia Pacific region.

In two separate decisions, the High Court provides a new sentencing framework that imposes heftier punishments for failing to ensure the safety of employees at work and provides clarification as to whether settlement payments may be taken into consideration when determining the amount of compensation payable by an employer for workplace injury. The General Division of the High Court (SGHC) in two recent decisions in Public Prosecutor v Manta Equipment (S) Pte Ltd [2022] SGHC 157 and MTM Ship Management Pte Ltd v Devaswarupa and others [2022] SGHC 178 considered two pieces of legislation concerning workplace safety and accidents in Singapore.

With increased regulatory scrutiny and the emergence of employee activism, companies have experienced an elevated risk of trade secret disclosure from current or former employees acting as putative whistleblowers. In this episode, Aaron Goodman (Partner, Los Angeles) discussed key factors companies should consider in balancing their trade secret interests against the protections afforded to whistleblowers, with a focus on recent whistleblower laws across the globe.

In our four-part Navigating the World webinar series, US moderators welcomed colleagues from around the globe to share the latest labor and employment law updates and trends impacting US-based multinational employers with business operations in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific, including:
• the impact of the current social and political climate on multinational employers
• New significant legislative developments
• Inclusion and diversity (I&D) advancements and trends
• Best practices for a flexible workforce, addressing remote and hybrid work