The legal profession and the foreign lawyer

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Legal practice in Singapore is governed by the Legal Profession Act 1966. Advocates and solicitors admitted to the Singapore Bar may practise Singapore law. Foreign lawyers may be registered to practise foreign law in Singapore, and foreign law practices may operate under licences of varying scope, including the Qualifying Foreign Law Practice licence introduced in 2008 and the Joint Law Venture and Formal Law Alliance structures. Registered foreign lawyers may also appear in the SICC in offshore cases.¹ A Swiss or German lawyer therefore works in Singapore either through a local firm, as this book's author does as Of Counsel at KGP Legal LLC, or through a registered foreign law practice limited to advising on the law of the home jurisdiction.

Example: A Zürich-based asset manager wants a legal opinion that its planned Singapore subsidiary does not need a capital markets services licence under the Securities and Futures Act 2001. Only a Singapore-admitted lawyer may give that opinion as Singapore legal advice. The Swiss counsel's role is to frame the facts in the categories a Singapore lawyer needs and to explain the Swiss licensing position so that the group structure is understood. Swiss counsel then checks that the Singapore conclusions are consistent with the Swiss regulatory analysis under the Financial Institutions Act (FinIA; FINIG). The two opinions then form a single structuring memorandum of the kind described in Part P, Chapter IV.

Notes

Legal Profession Act 1966 (2020 Rev Ed), Part 2 (admission), Part 9 (foreign lawyers and foreign law practices); Legal Profession (Representation in Singapore International Commercial Court) Rules 2014. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Of Counsel, KGP Legal LLC

I am Of Counsel with KGP Legal LLC in Singapore, where I work with a global client base of successful entrepreneurs and their families, independent asset managers, commodity trading houses and other commercial clients. I am a German and Swiss attorney-at-law, also admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and in Hong Kong. I divide my time between Zug in Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong. Since 2017 I have advised international clients on more than 700 crypto and digital asset projects. I also have extensive experience in cross-border litigation and arbitration in Singapore, Hong Kong and other markets in South-East Asia and Greater China.

I operate across the key financial centres in South-East Asia, the Middle East and Switzerland, with a particular focus on asset protection, international tax and estate planning, as well as trusts, company administration and other fiduciary services. My philosophy is to serve as a trusted advisor working closely with my clients and to help them achieve their commercial objectives.

All Singapore law advice is provided through KGP Legal LLC, an established and duly licensed firm of Singapore advocates and solicitors.

KGP Legal LLC is a medium-sized law firm in Singapore that is capable of providing the full range of legal services and corporate administration work. Please contact me directly at [email protected] if you need any further information.

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Setting up or expanding in Singapore?

SingaporeIQ is edited by Dr Alexander Ressos, an international business lawyer with more than 15 years of local experience in Singapore as a permanent resident, a Singapore registered foreign lawyer and managing partner of a Singapore foreign law practice. In addition to significant experience in cross-border investments and transactions, UHNWI private client work and sanctions/export controls, Dr Ressos has extensive experience in cross-border business and in crypto and digital-asset projects in Singapore, drawn from more than 700 projects since 2017.

If you are planning a company incorporation, an investment, a holding structure or a market entry through Singapore, you can reach Dr Ressos directly at [email protected]. Singapore law advice is provided by KGP Legal LLC, a licensed firm of Singapore advocates and solicitors. As a Singapore law practice, KGP Legal LLC is authorised under the Legal Profession Act 1966 to advise on Singapore law and to represent clients before the Singapore courts; foreign law practices with an office in Singapore are, as a rule, not permitted to do either. Dr Ressos and his team facilitate the full range of Singapore legal, compliance and company administration services, including company incorporation, corporate transactions, commercial contracts, crypto and digital assets, financial regulatory work and dispute resolution, including litigation in the Singapore courts. For legal, tax and fiduciary services in Switzerland, see helveticaregister.com.