PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has extended its legal offering into Singapore after sealing a tie-up with local firm Camford Law.

The move is part of a wider plan for the accountancy giant to ramp up legal capability around Asia-Pacific, with the aim to boost Asian legal services revenue from $75m to between $150m and $200m and have approximately 500 lawyers in the region within five years.

The 10-lawyer Singaporean outfit specialises in corporate and commercial work, and has two partners, Bijay Nawal and Natarajan Sundararaman.

The firm is now part of PwC's global network, but will continue to operate as a separate partnership and retain the name of Camford Law. However, it is likely the firm will relocate so that it is closer to PwC's Singapore offices.

The head of legal for Australia and Asia-Pacific at PwC Andrew Wheeler told Legal Week that the firm had chosen to do a tie-up in Singapore verses applying for a Foreign Law Practice (FLP) licence as it was keen to have local, Singaporean capability over an international law team.

"We looked at different options but we think it is important to be able to practice locally," he said. "A lot of the work that comes from the network will need local lawyers to practice local law."

But he added that the firm would most certainly look to expand its practice offering.

"This is the start for us – initially it's going to be a corporate and commercial-focused practice. If we look around the world and what we do in many jurisdictions, there is a good connection between corporate and commercial legal work and tax advisory work.

"There is a period in which we just want to bed this relationship down, create the links, establish the working styles. All these cultural differences you can't underestimate. Things like network standards, protocols, conflict checks all become relevant.

"Then we'll be looking to grow."

The 'big four' accounting firm first revealed intentions to grow its legal services platform in Asia earlier this year, outlining plans to increase the number of partners in existing legal centres and also enter new jurisdictions.

Wheeler said Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and China were the priority, and that he hoped to announced another venture, possibly in Japan, within the next six to 12 months.

Also of interest are Korea and Indonesia. PwC already has legal teams in Australia, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Laos, Thailand and the Philippines.

Currently PwC offers legal services in 83 jurisdictions around the world and employs 2,500 lawyers globally. Core practices include mid-market M&A, compliance, employment, industrial relations, immigration and tax, while real estate, energy and natural resources are also relevant in certain markets.

Previously accounting firms had scaled back their legal departments in Asia following regulatory reforms in the US which emphasised external auditor independence, however, this year things look set to change.

In March Ernst & Young (EY) also told Legal Week it planned to bolster its legal capacity on the continent, having recently entered mainland China and applied for licences in Singapore and Vietnam.

In December it hired former Herbert Smith Freehills partner John Dick in the island city-state, and made clear it was looking to build out into other markets – such as Vietnam, Hong Kong, Korea and Indonesia – gradually.