David joined as a partner in 1999 after leaving the partnership of Allen & Gledhill. He has been a member of the firm’s executive committee since 2001.

He began practice as a litigation lawyer and amongst others was lead counsel in Singapore’s first reported decision on minority oppression. He was also litigation counsel for the two leading tin smelters in S.E.A. to deal with the fall out from the International Tin Crisis.

He is recognized as a leading practitioner in the area of financial services regulation and in the legal advisory (as opposed to legal transactional) field generally.

In the financial services field, he was amongst others counsel to the then Singapore International Monetary Exchange in dealing with the fall outs, both from the aberrant Nikkei Index Crash on the exchange in the late 1980s and the Baring’s debacle in the mid-1990s; counsel to the Rubber Association of Singapore in its privatization exercise and its consequential conversion to the SICOM; also counsel to the SGX-DT in both its demutualization exercise and the hiving off of its clearing house.

He was also advisor to SMX in its structuring and setting up of Singapore’s second commodities exchange.

In the wake of the “Minibond” debacle in Singapore, he was counsel to all 6 of the local brokers, both to deal with the fall out from the debacle; and then to assist in each of the brokers’ respective compliance in dealing with updated and evolving regulatory compliance requirements.

Memberships / Directorships

• Member, Rules Committee of Singapore Exchange Derivatives Trading Limited (formerly Singapore International Monetary Exchange Limited)
• Member, Rules Committee of Singapore Commodity Exchange Limited
• Member, Financial Centre Advisory Group Banking Sub Committee, The Monetary Authority of Singapore
• Faculty Member, Swaps and Derivatives Group, Practising Law Institute (USA) – 1998 & 1999
• Chairman, Derivatives and Futures in Asia Pacific, International Bar Association’s Asia Pacific Forum (held in Singapore) in 1996
• Chairman, Exchange Control, International Bar Association’s Asia Pacific Forum (held in Shanghai) in 1998
• Panel member, Futures Industry Association’s Annual Conference on Regulatory Developments (Baltimore 2001)
• Member, panel of mediators in The Consumer Mediation Unit, since 2003
• Member of the SIAC SGX-DT Panel of Arbitrators
• Member of Advisory Committee of the Singapore Mercantile Exchange Limited
• Member of the Board of Legal Education
• Member, Singapore Academy of Law
• Member, Law Society of Singapore

Publications

• SWAPs & Other Derivatives in 1998 – “Regulation of Transactions in Financial Products – Securities, Futures and Foreign Exchange”
• SWAPS & Other Derivatives in 1999 - “Derivatives” and Debacles”