FTI Consulting, WongPartnership among seven members on specialist panel for haze probes

[SINGAPORE] FTI Consulting (Singapore), Dentons Rodyk & Davidson and WongPartnership are among the seven investigation and law firms as well as one individual appointed to a specialist panel assembled by the authorities to investigate firms linked to the transboundary haze.

The investigation firms on the panel are: Control Risks Group, FTI Consulting (Singapore) and Kroll Singapore.

The law firms and legal advisers on the panel are: Dentons Rodyk & Davidson, TSMP Law Corporation, WongPartnership and arbitrator Toby Landau KC of Duxton Hill Chambers.

The seven members bring expertise in forensic investigations, financial analysis, corporate intelligence, risk advisory and legal services, said Singapore’s Ministry of Law and the National Environment Agency (NEA), in a joint statement on Friday (Oct 30).

The government first announced on Oct 23 that it would set up a specialist panel comprising law, audit and investigative firms to examine the operations, corporate relationships and supply chains of companies identified by the authorities as potentially linked to the haze.

The 10 Singapore-registered companies identified by the authorities are:

• Asia Pulp & Paper Company;
• Asia Pulp & Paper Company (China);
• Bumitama Agri ;
• Golden Agri International ;
• First Resources ;
• Indofood Agri Resources ;
• Kencana Agri ;
• TSH Global Plantation;
• TSH Overseas; and
• Wilmar International .

NEA had issued notices to these companies on Oct 23 to seek information on their operations and potential links to the haze. These companies are required to engage professionals from the panel.

The government had also earlier announced that it had appointed Davinder Singh Chambers as its adviser to coordinate these cross-border inquiries and investigations; senior counsel Davinder Singh will provide specialist advice and guidance on the conduct of the inquiries.

Elaborating on the legal firm’s role on Friday, the authorities said that Davinder Singh Chambers will coordinate the work done by the panel members to ensure that their evaluation reports effectively address the issues and contain the information and evidence needed by NEA for its assessment.

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As for the haze-linked companies, the government has asked them to engage a team selected by NEA. This team will comprise an investigations firm and a law firm or legal adviser from the panel. The agency will then ask the assessors to evaluate the companies’ operations, corporate relationships and supply chains.

The companies will conduct the assessment at their own expense. The assessors will submit an evaluation report to NEA, which will take the findings into account in determining whether further action is warranted.

Senior Minister K Shanmugam had previously noted that the assessors may need to engage third parties or other experts for assistance, such as geospatial analysts for satellite hot spot data.

Wilmar International said, in a Thursday evening bourse filing issued before the list of assessors was unveiled, that it has informed NEA it will engage an investigations firm and a law firm from the panel.

Wilmar, as well as the other companies identified, were represented at a Wednesday closed-door meeting, which was attended by Shanmugam, Singh, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, and Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.

Singapore has been affected by the transboundary haze for the longest continuous stretch of time since the 2015 haze crisis.