Singapore has defied the critics to build a commanding position in Asia's legal market. Alice Gartland asks if a new round of liberalisation will keep the city state on an upward track

Applications for Qualifying Foreign Law Practice (QFLP) licences are now open and foreign law firms in Singapore have until 31 August to apply – the first opportunity to do so since the initial round of licences were issued in 2008.

Back then, only six were awarded to Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance (CC), Latham & Watkins, White & Case, Norton Rose and Herbert Smith.

This second round "marks the continuation of a policy to liberalise the legal sector", according to Alvin Yeo, senior partner at Wong Partnership and part of the original Singapore Legal Sector Review committee that pushed for the opening up of the legal services market and put forward the QFLP structure.

Foreign firms are barred from practising Singapore law outside of QFLPs and Joint Law Venture (JLV) structures. This latest stage in liberalisation is throwing up questions not just for the local firms, but also the foreign players (both old and new entrants) as to how they position themselves in what is fast becoming Asia's most competitive legal hub.

Local law capability: a 'must' in Singapore?
Lee Suet Fern, managing partner of Stamford Law Corporation, says: "For international firms, being able to practice Singapore law can occasionally be helpful in the context of a larger transaction, but is hardly essential to their practices here. It's a 'nice to have' rather than a 'must have'."

It's "important, but not fundamental