Priority Club

Recently elected to the governing body of one of the world’s largest international law firms, Wong Ai Ai, together with a team of volunteers, have taken to new heights the Yellow Ribbon Fund that provides educational opportunities for offenders and their families. She chats with GEMMA KOH.

- Gemma Koh

WHEN WE MEET Wong Ai Ai at her Marina Bay office, which is lined with an eclectic collection of edgy Asian art from Chen Wen Hsi to Lee Wen, it’s her first day back in the office after four weeks on the road. The recently minted member of Baker McKenzie’s Global Executive Committee had spent one week in London to understand the law firm’s transactional capacities, and another visiting its “phenomenal” innovation centre in Belfast, a testing ground to assess if more functions can be housed off-site. She also met with its European partners, and was in Bangkok for a regional event, which included meetings with 27 sets of clients. Wong is the first Singaporean on the firm’s governing body in its 67-year history.

She is also Chairman of Prestige’s adopted charity, the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which provides education opportunities for offenders and their children. She also sits on the board of STPI, a creative workshop and contemporary gallery that promotes artistic experimentation and collaborations.

The Chambers Asia-Pacific describes this Principal of Baker McKenzie.Wong & Leow as “a well respected practitioner” who has “a solid track record and regularly works with blue-chip clients on M&A, private equity and restructuring” with clients saying that “the value she adds to a deal is irreplaceable”. Representative legal matters include advising leading international private banking and asset management group LGT Group Foundation on its agreement to acquire ABN AMRO’s private banking business in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai with approximately USD20 billion assets under management.