Asian Legal Review

Hongkong Land will acquire Singapore’s Wheelock Place for about S$1.1 billion (US$900 million) through its Singapore Central Private Real Estate Fund (SCPREF), marking the fund’s first acquisition since its launch in February.
The mixed-use commercial property on Orchard Road is being acquired from an entity owned by Hong Kong-listed Wharf Real Estate Investment Company, according to a statement released by Hongkong Land on Thursday. The transaction is expected to conclude by the end of…

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has seized on the release of a long-delayed inquiry into the country’s Islamic pilgrimage fund to revive his anti-corruption message just days before the state of Negeri Sembilan holds an election.
The move is seen as a calculated bid by Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition to turn a governance issue against state rival Umno, although observers are divided on whether it would be damaging enough to hurt Malaysia’s oldest Malay nationalist party.
Anwar’s…

An increase in workforce restructuring, factory closures and collective redundancies across Germany is creating a new category of employment risk – large-scale and coordinated employment litigation, an expert has said.

India is planning a new law to combat AI deepfakes and impersonation scams amid a surge in cyber fraud and fake videos targeting top military officers.
The cases have deepened concerns over the potential for misinformation to sow discord in India during a geopolitical crisis, such as in the war against Pakistan last year.
The proposal aims to close a gap in India’s laws by clearly defining punishments concerning deepfakes and other related offences.
The changes would also cover “digital arrest”…

Malaysia is tightening controls on high-risk hiking routes after officials linked a growing rescue burden to poor preparation, unauthorised trails and social media-driven summit attempts.
The push is aimed partly at curbing gruelling “compressed hikes”, in which climbers try to complete long or technically demanding routes within a single day, often combining an ascent and descent that would usually be spread over a longer period.
The Fire and Rescue Department recorded 52 cases involving 114…

Plans to prohibit social media companies from offering their services to under-15s in France have been challenged on constitutional grounds.

Singapore’s economic growth should remain firm in the second half of 2026 although a major uncertainty is the sustainability of the AI investment boom, the head of its central bank said on Tuesday.
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Managing Director Chia Der Jiun, speaking at the release ‌of the central bank’s annual report, said the Middle East conflict also posed risks, but for now global AI-related demand was “likely to continue to provide a meaningful boost” to the city state while other…

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr used his 2026 State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday to promise relief from taxes, electricity charges and high rice prices, while pledging to pursue corruption cases linked to a flood-control scandal that has battered his administration.
But while analysts said the one-and-a-half-hour speech addressed issues Filipinos had expected Marcos to confront, they questioned how the government could afford the handouts and why he announced no austerity or…

A rare rebuke of Asean by the powerful sister of North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un signals the bloc’s waning relevance to the nuclear-armed state, analysts say.
Kim Yo-jong on Monday condemned a call by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for the country’s denuclearisation, saying the statement “distorted the essence of the situation in the Korean peninsula”.
At the annual Asean Regional Forum held in the Philippines last Thursday, Asean expressed “grave concern” over the ongoing development…