We advise international corporations on legal and practical aspects of investing and transacting business in Malaysia as well as assisting them to establish optimum investment structures to protect their investments. With regard to joint ventures, we counsel clients on the appropriate structure for the venture concerned and assist in tailoring capital structures ranging from simple equity division to complex issues of preferential shares, debt instruments and the writing of options, working with local law firms where appropriate.

The Malaysian Government has over the years liberalised 27 services sub-sectors, with no equity conditions imposed. These sub-sectors are in the areas of health and social services, tourism, transport, business services and computer and related services. A National Committee for Approval of Investments in the Services Sector has been established to facilitate investments. We at Partners, are monitoring developments closely.

Whilst clearly, foreign direct investment is not exactly, a Colour By Numbers game – at Partners, we are able to present our advice in a way which is manageable and clear.

We understand the realities of commerce and we pride ourselves on a straight-talking approach to the challenges that can be faced while at the same time providing clients with the in-depth professional advice necessary to inform their own decisions. As a result, we provide practical solutions to commercial problems and have an eye for detail whilst not losing sight of the bigger picture.

We also tailor the communications in a language suited to the audience. Thus for legal counsels, we will always provide references to statutory instruments and concede to a small element of legalese where necessary – but to Commercial Leaders, we explain in Business Talk.

From listening to your aspirations and business goals, we then advise on the most suited business vehicle to protect your investments and to suit your business goals.

Such entities may include establishing locally incorporated companies, registering Foreign Branches of foreign entities, Limited Liability Partnerships or Regional Offices / Representative Offices.

At Partners we care passionately about our clients. We understand the challenges of starting or developing a business or attempting a rescue operation, especially when new to local laws and business customs. When it comes to start ups and entrepreneurs we’ve seen it all – and sadly, we have inherited many clients which have been poorly served by firms which have simply executed instructions – without the experience or the initiative to consider the impact of the entity choice in the operational plans.

At its simplest, foreign companies registering as a foreign branch under the Companies Act 2016, are prohibited from participation in many industries and may not be eligible for additional permissions/licences from the relevant monitoring agency for the industry concerned. In other words, the entity established was not fit for purpose.

At Partners, we are extremely wary of advising out of context, thus we will only accept instructions following a dialogue or meeting with the client to understand their End-Game goals.

We have the experience, grit and determination to support you through the vital early phases. When you come to us we can offer you sound, personal advice that makes it all straightforward, helping you unravel the complexities and answer the questions, so that the way forward is clear.

Making business happen should not be as challenging as it is, but Partners are here to support clients to navigate through the maze of bureaucracy that prevails in the Malaysian business landscape.

As a simple illustration, there are approximately 149 local authorities in Malaysia issuing Business Premise licences and Signboard licences - and as these licences are governed under By-Laws issued by the respective State Authorities – there is no uniformity in requirements. We are proud to boast that we have dealt with most of these local authorities in Peninsular Malaysia.

Our successful projects include:

o obtaining all the retail licences for Tesco’s first and following 30+ hypermarkets in Malaysia

o obtaining a dispensation from the then 30% Bumiputra equity condition for Harvey Norman permitting it to be one of the first foreign retailers to be 100% foreign owned in Malaysia

o establishing the first business vehicle for Trowers & Hamlins LLP the first foreign law firm licensed by the Bar Council of Malaysia as well as registering their newly licensed law firm as the first ever foreign LLP in Malaysia

o supporting Vale’s construction of an iron ore distribution hub in Perak especially in the area of provision of comprehensive immigration solutions to ensure that critical project timelines were met as well as assisting the establishment of local entities for many of Vale’s global partners including project managers and engineering firms

o obtaining a Recruitment Licence for the first international recruitment agency, Robert Walters in Malaysia followed by other global giants such as Hays Specialist Recruitment, Allegis Group, Hydrogen Group, Reed and MRG People

o advising and establishing the first licensed private medical clinic for Doctors without Borders in Penang

We operate one of the most successful corporate immigration services departments in Malaysia. Our team will provide strategic workforce planning to enable you to hire the expatriate talent required for your business or projects in Malaysia.

Our focus is on people in business – executives, business owners, entrepreneurs, investors, senior management, intra-company transferees with specialised knowledge and expertise – and their families.

We help you in answering questions such as:

“What immigration requirements should be met to ensure employees can legally enter, work and reside in a Malaysia?”

“How soon can an employee start in Malaysia and what are the costs?”

“How do we manage immigration for short term business travellers whilst being conscious of business continuity?”

Each year, we will process hundreds of immigration applications and we are proud of almost 100% success rate over our two decades of service.

CAVEAT

Unfortunately, we are unable to assist in foreign nationals interested in obtaining employment in Malaysia and rarely accept mandates from individual clients as our focus is very much on corporate immigration compliance.

Foreign companies entering the market for the first time, may not have the capacity to hire a full-time, permanent in-house legal team that operates from the company’s location.

In response to this ‘gap’ in the market, we provide In-house Legal Counsel Retainer Services to provide on-call availability when issues or questions arise during the day-to-day operations of the business.

By working closely with the senior management of the business, our legally trained team gains an intricate understanding of the needs and policy requirements of the company, enabling them to respond to the client’s needs quickly and cost-effectively.

Another key advantage for having a retainer arrangement is that the Business Units on the ground often contact us to ‘sound out’ new ideas or to ask for a perspective on something that may be niggling them and for which they may not feel needs escalating internally. We serve as a Sounding Board.

Our main aim is not to bail clients out of a crisis (which we have and do) – but to help your business thrive.

When we think it necessary, we will instruct on your behalf, the best legal counsel on your behalf and we are very experienced at giving tight and concise briefs, in order to help you manage your ‘legal spend’.

When taking instructions from you, we not only obtain the relevant background and facts but we will drill down into the detail and understand the fundamental issue(s) that requires advice, and then compile it into a focused brief. This will ensure that the external lawyers advise only on the specific issues identified, rather than advising generally, which takes longer and is more expensive. When the advice comes back, we will “translate” the advice so that it is easily understood in the commercial environment.

Corporate Secretarial Department

In most Company Secretarial Firms, the sole focus is simply on statutory compliance. They are reactive as opposed to being pro-active. At Partners, our Company Secretary is a qualified Barrister and thus offers a strong technical perspective as to other potential risks consider with any proposed company transaction. For example, a simple matter such as the narrative of the objects clauses in the Memorandum of Association or Constitution, may trigger regulation or query from other government agencies.

Company secretaries can add real value to a company’s business by bringing commercial acumen, strategic understanding and softer people skills in addition to their already much sought after legal and governance knowledge.

At Partners, we look at the Bigger Picture. Through our understanding of the commercial, legal and regulatory pressures and sensitivities which impact upon corporate transactions, our team is ideally placed to provide effective advice.

Payroll Services Department

Payroll might sound straightforward, especially with all the software packages available, but the ever-changing regulations make it full of traps for the unwary.

Whatever the nature of your business, its core function is not payroll. By outsourcing payroll administration functions of your organisation to Partners, your HR team is able to focus on improving rather than managing existing business operations.

Our payroll department was established to meet basic to complex payroll and HR Administration needs of businesses in Malaysia.

We have an established track record with Start-up companies, Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) including global recruitment and manpower businesses which place a premium on integrity and transparency.