General Counsel - The C-Suite's Swiss Army Knife

Jeffery Tan, Group General Counsel, Jardine Cycle & Carriage Limited, Singapore

The role of the General Counsel (GC) continues to evolve in a corporation. The requirement for a GC to be a highly skilled legal practitioner is only the entry level requirement. To be successful in this role, one is expected to be financially literate, business savvy and strategically minded. The position requires the individual to possess almost diametrically opposite attributes: Being 'hard as nails' and yet 'humble and approachable'. Fully knowledgeable of one's legal rights and ready to enforce them to the hilt; and yet pragmatic and conciliatory when required. Quietly receptive as a confidant and yet highly vocal as a lobbyist and passionate advocate. It requires one to be mentally agile and intellectually curious. Always learning from both internal and external stakeholders and audiences. To succeed, one needs to have the social skills and the EQ to connect with different and at times difficult personalities; and yet excelling at being a diplomat, politician, gladiator, mediator, facilitator and healer all rolled into one package.

Jeffery is the Group General Counsel; Director, Group Corporate Affairs; and Company Secretary of Jardine Cycle & Carriage since April 2016. He is responsible for legal, compliance, company secretarial, communications and public affairs at the Group level. Before joining Jardine Cycle & Carriage, he was the Group General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Board Secretary for UTAC Holdings Ltd. Prior to that, he has over 20 years of private practice and in-house legal experience with international law firms and multinational companies such as Allen & Gledhill, DLA Piper, Siemens and Motorola. He also served as President of Motorola Singapore for five years. Jeffery has an LLB (HONS) from the National University of Singapore. He is a senior Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Singapore, and a Solicitor of England & Wales. He also completed the Senior Executive Management Program, at Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management.

Jardine Cycle & Carriage (JC&C) is a leading Singapore-listed company and a member of the Jardine Matheson Group who is a long-term shareholder of market-leading businesses. Together with our subsidiaries and associates, JC&C employs over 240,000 people across Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. JC&C has a strategic interest in Astra International, the largest independent automotive group in Southeast Asia. Astra International has further interests in financial services, heavy equipment & mining, agribusiness, infrastructure & logistics, information technology and property.