EPRX

[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 (MinLaw) 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.

These identified companies are required to engage professionals from the panel and are expected to fully cooperate and provide unfettered access, MinLaw said in a press statement last week.

Payment will be made by the companies, said Senior Minister K Shanmugam at a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, according to a transcript released to the media by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The minister 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.

The government earlier noted that it 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.

NEA also said on Oct 23 that it had issued notices to 10 Singapore-registered companies to seek information on their operations and potential links to the haze. They 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 .

All of these companies were represented at the 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.