Events

*This event is strictly for in-house counsel only

Event Overview

Nationalism, anti-corruption drives and reforms in India, Indonesia and Thailand: How do they impact businesses following the general elections?

India, Indonesia and Thailand have earlier this year concluded their general elections, with no change to their leaders at the helm. However, underlying policy and regime changes abound, and businesses should pay close attention to the risks of nationalism, selective corruption enforcement and inconsistent policy environments.

While the recent elections carried the mandate of the people, the re-elected governments are unlikely to prioritise pro-business policies amid growing nationalistic tendencies. Indonesia will likely see an increase in pro-Muslim policies, while in India, the government’s political and social goals that are linked to its nationalist agenda will increasingly compete with its economic priorities. As pro-business policies give way to nationalism, foreign businesses will have to adapt to this shift in policymaking if they want to play the long game in these markets.

Anti-corruption drives were – and are likely to remain – a key focus of the government administrations in these countries. However, inconsistent enforcement have led to risks of political tokenism aimed at making an example of corruption enforcement, empowering anti-corruption agencies to selectively target businesses unfairly. This significantly heightens compliance risks for businesses and their in-house counsels.

A strong mandate for ruling parties also brings expectations for substantive reforms, but these are not necessarily the best for businesses. Sweeping reforms and erratic policy-making have shown to be the most disruptive for businesses as they are not able to make business plans and commit resources, raising regulatory and operational risks.

Join Andrew Macintosh, Partner at Control Risks, and our panel of country experts, Pratyush Rao – Associate Director & Lead Analyst for India, Harrison Cheng – Associate Director & Lead Analyst for Thailand, and Achmad Sukarsono – Senior Analyst & Lead Analyst for Indonesia, as they discuss how such shifts in policies and regulations can affect business operations and the role that general counsel play. They will also draw on their experiences and share case studies of how some companies have managed similar changes. This will be a conversational and interactive panel session where the audience are welcome to ask questions and join the discussion.

Speaker Profiles

Andrew Macintosh

Partner

Control Risks

Andrew Macintosh is the Partner leading Control Risks’ Asia Pacific practices covering forensics and technology solutions, and is based in Singapore. Andrew leads a team which specialises in investigations, dispute support, forensic accounting, data analytics, eDiscovery and digital forensics.

Andrew has particular expertise in leading on matters involving internal and independent investigations for companies subject to investigation by authorities across multiple jurisdictions, and leads on large, complex matters involving technology and cyber-security issues.

Andrew has previously held a number of roles with Control Risks in Asia, working in offices in India, China and Australia. In these roles, he focused on the delivery of complex investigative, crisis management, integrity due diligence, business intelligence, litigation support and problem-solving projects for clients around the world. 

Before joining Control Risks, Andrew was an intelligence analyst, and then a senior technical officer for the New South Wales Crime Commission. While with the Commission, Andrew was involved in extensive investigations of organised domestic and international criminal activity.

Andrew holds bachelor’s degree in arts (politics and international relations) and master’s in international relations from the Macquarie University, Australia. He has completed the Charles Sturt University Investigators Course and holds Certificate III in Investigative Services and Certificate IV in Security and Risk Management. Andrew is certified to conduct mobile telephone forensics and general forensics equipment.

Pratyush Rao

Associate Director

Control Risks

Pratyush Rao is an Associate Director for India and South Asia. He provides research and analysis of political, security and regulatory developments in South Asia, and their implications for clients' commercial activities in the region. He is a regular contributor to Control Risks’ online platform CORE, and conducts bespoke consulting projects.

Prior to joining Control Risks, Pratyush worked for the British High Commission in New Delhi as a Senior Political Adviser and provided analysis and policy advice on issues pertaining to India-Pakistan relations. In addition to this, he also led the High Commission's political engagement work in the sensitive Indian-administered-Kashmir (IaK) region.

Pratyush has also worked for BBC Monitoring, the open-source intelligence wing of the BBC, where he tracked key developments spanning South and East Asia. He holds an MSc in Global Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi. He is fluent in three Indian languages including Hindi, Odia and Telugu.

Harrison Cheng

Associate Director

Control Risks

Harrison is an Associate Director based in Control Risks’ Singapore office. He provides analysis and research on Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore for Control Risks’ CORE service, as well as for in-depth bespoke reports.

Harrison has worked on projects such as pre-market entry assessments for foreign companies seeking to enter various sectors in Malaysia, which focused on political, regulatory, operational and security risks as well as identification of key stakeholders. He has also provided bespoke assessment of political drivers for regulatory developments and direct implications on a client's interests in a sector, as well as investigations on behalf of foreign companies operating in Malaysia and Thailand which faced or were concerned about threats of violence, regulatory harassment and political interference issued by local partners.

Harrison previously worked as a senior South-East Asia analyst at the Ministry of Defence in Singapore. Harrison holds a Master’s degree in Social Sciences and a Bachelor’s (Honours) degree in Political Science from the National University of Singapore.

Achmad Sukarsono

Senior Analyst

Control Risks

Achmad Sukarsono is based in Control Risks’ Singapore office and provides analysis on Indonesia and Malaysia for Control Risks’ CORE service, as well as more in-depth, bespoke consultancy support.

Achmad was previously a London-based Asia analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group where his work included weekly monitoring briefs on Malaysian politics, advising Japanese clients on Indonesian politics through Tokyo road trips, assessments on the labour situation in Indonesia, mapping the alcohol debate in predominantly Muslim Indonesia and Malaysia for a food & beverage company and in-depth reports on the oil sector in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Before joining the political risk industry, Achmad worked as a Southeast Asia analyst for the International Crisis Group, a global think-tank on conflict issues for three years and as a Jakarta-based journalist for international news organisations for a decade. Achmad’s comments on Indonesia and Malaysia have appeared on Bloomberg, Reuters, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

Achmad holds a Master of Arts degree in Global and Comparative Politics from Queen Mary University of London and a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree in International Relations from the University of Indonesia, where he joined the 1998 student movement that helped overthrow the Suharto authoritarian regime.