Asian Legal Review

A married Singapore minister’s sudden resignation amid revelations he had exchanged inappropriate messages with a woman has rocked the city state’s establishment circles, with a groundswell of sentiment calling for him to be retained.
Amid online petitions and calls to keep former minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs Faishal Ibrahim following his resignation on Monday, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong shed further light on the controversy, suggesting the matter was more serious than previously…

Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio suffered a serious setback in her impeachment trial this week after the Senate allowed prosecutors to examine key financial records in an unexplained wealth case against her.
Analysts said the Senate impeachment court’s ruling could give prosecutors a clearer route to show she amassed ill-gotten wealth and pull down her popularity ratings in time for the 2028 presidential election, thus raising the stakes for Duterte-Carpio as she fights not only to…

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC) has proposed a significant overhaul of the regulatory framework governing digital asset derivatives trading, introducing what amounts to the most market-expanding reform to date for the country’s crypto ecosystem.

The most consequential change in the proposed revisions is the introduction of a direct licensing pathway, permitting existing digital asset operators to apply for derivatives business licenses without the administrative burden of establishing separate corporate entities. Under the current framework, operators wishing to offer derivatives products were required to spin up entirely new companies, a costly and time-consuming requirement that effectively slowed market maturation.

The SEC’s stated objectives are twofold: accelerating the formal recognition of digital assets as a legitimate asset class within Thailand’s traditional financial regulatory taxonomy, and providing market participants with advanced risk management tools. The commission notes that the revision aims to promote the recognition of digital assets as an asset class and provide investors with additional hedging tools.

However, the liberalized access is accompanied by heightened compliance demands. The proposed rules require operators to implement robust conflict-of-interest prevention mechanisms, and introduce elevated financial standards for both derivatives trading centers and clearing institutions. The public consultation window runs until May 20, 2026, with the SEC inviting stakeholder feedback on the revised licensing requirements.

Strategically, this development positions Thailand ahead of several regional peers in the derivatives space. Singapore has yet to fully liberalize derivatives access for existing Digital Payment Token Service Providers, while Malaysia’s derivatives framework for digital assets remains narrower in scope. If enacted, Thailand’s approach would lower barriers for established platforms such as Bitkub and Zipmex to diversify into regulated derivatives products, potentially driving significant institutional liquidity to the Bangkok market as neighboring jurisdictions including Hong Kong and South Korea develop their own digital asset derivatives infrastructure.

The move comes at a pivotal moment for Thailand’s digital asset sector, which has been pursuing a strategy of regulatory proactivity since the country first approved cryptocurrency ETF frameworks earlier this year. The derivatives reform, paired with the crypto ETF sandbox and the TouristDigiPay regulatory sandbox, signals a deliberate multi-track approach to positioning Thailand as the region’s most crypto-friendly capital market.

New mandatory data centre rules in Australia will reshape how the country’s next generation of large-scale data centres are financed, built and operated, experts have said.

The Indonesian government announced Thursday that the upstream oil and gas sector will be exempted from the controversial single-gate export centralization policy, a significant reversal that underscores the political economy’s sensitivity in a capital-intensive industry reliant on foreign investment.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia told delegates at the 2026 Indonesian Petroleum Association Convention and Exhibition in BSD City that the regulation under PP No. 21/2026 will not apply to upstream oil and gas operations. “I bring a special message from the President: the regulation does not apply to the upstream oil and gas sector. So, there is no need to worry, it’s business as usual,” he said.

Under a separate concession, Bahlil also confirmed that oil and gas exporters face different deposit rules than other exporters. Forex retention in the sector will be capped at 10 to 30 percent, reflecting heavy reliance on foreign financing.

The exemptions come days after President Prabowo announced on May 20 that key commodity exports — crude palm oil, coal, and ferroalloys — would be channeled through a single state-owned enterprise, PT Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI). The government aims to prevent under-invoicing and transfer pricing fraud, which officials said could be costing the state up to US$150 billion annually.

During a June-to-September trial phase, exporting firms will still conduct direct transactions with buyers, but DSI handles export filing. From January 2027, DSI takes full control of export contracts, shipments, and payments. A later phase will expand the list to all strategic natural resource commodities.

The policy has drawn business pushback. The Indonesian Coal Mining Association warned that existing contracts, permits, and shipping schedules complicate any abrupt shift, while industry groups fear a de facto monopoly that could undermine buyer confidence across ASEAN markets.

Coordinating Economy Minister Airlangga Hartarto confirmed the revised regulation allows exporters to place part of their proceeds outside the Himbara banking consortium. The government also halved the currency conversion limit for FTA trading partners from 100 percent to 50 percent.

For ASEAN, Indonesia’s unilateral trade policy marks a significant shift in how Southeast Asia’s largest economy manages commodity export flows. Analysts warn it could trigger regional pushback and complicate Jakarta’s standing in ASEAN economic cooperation frameworks.

Asia’s oil buyers are facing the risk of a second maritime chokepoint being disrupted after Iran-aligned Houthi militants threatened to impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, even as shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remain severely disrupted by the US-Iran conflict.
Analysts said any serious disruption in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could leave Asia with fewer alternatives for Middle Eastern crude, threatening Saudi shipments and increasing the risk of oil prices rising above US$100 per…

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has appointed army chief Lieutenant General Antonio G. Nafarrete as the next head of the armed forces, placing a veteran of the country’s internal conflicts in charge before a sensitive election in the Muslim south and amid continued maritime tensions with China.
The choice points to continuity in security policy and puts the Armed Forces of the Philippines under an officer whose career has been closely tied to Mindanao, which is preparing for its first…

Japan is moving closer to a historic overhaul of its family law, as the government prepares to amend the Civil Code to allow shared parental custody for divorced couples for the first time. The proposed change represents a fundamental break from decades of a sole-custody system that has left many children caught in legal limbo and forced one parent out of the picture entirely.

Under Japan’s current law, only one parent can be designated as the legal guardian after a divorce. This has created what child welfare advocates describe as a “custody vacuum” when both parents want to remain involved in their children’s lives but the law simply cannot accommodate that reality. The situation is particularly fraught for expatriate and mixed-nationality families, where custody arrangements often collide directly with the legal frameworks of the other parent’s home country.

The amendment to the Civil Code, which lawmakers are expected to finalize in the coming legislative session, looks set to introduce shared custody as a default option. Critics of the old system have long argued that the sole-custody rule prioritizes parental convenience over the best interests of children. Japan’s Ministry of Justice has said the revision aims to align family law with evolving social norms and international conventions on children’s rights, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Japan ratified in 1994.

The reform has been particularly driven by high-profile cases that exposed the human cost of the current system. In numerous documented instances, the non-custodial parent had no legal standing to make decisions about their child’s education, healthcare, or even to see their child without the custodial parent’s permission. Some parents, unable to maintain contact with their children after divorce, have effectively disappeared from their children’s lives by legal default — a situation that has prompted international criticism and calls for reform from human rights organizations.

Legal experts say the change could have ripple effects across the wider Asia-Pacific region. Japan’s legal tradition has long been a reference point for civil law systems in East and Southeast Asia. A successful transition to shared custody would signal a broader shift toward recognizing both parents’ rights and responsibilities, potentially influencing family law reforms in neighboring jurisdictions that have similarly rigid custody frameworks.

Opposition to the reform has been relatively muted, though some traditionalists argue that shared custody could exacerbate post-divorce conflict. The Ministry of Justice has responded by proposing accompanying measures, including mandatory mediation and clear protocols for dispute resolution. The government has also flagged the need to revise related legislation, including provisions on child support and the legal age of majority, which was recently lowered from 20 to 18.

For families and legal practitioners in Japan, the reform — once enacted — will mark the most significant change to family law in the country’s modern history. It also comes at a time when regional divorce rates are rising and the traditional single-parent household model is becoming increasingly uncommon across Asia’s urban centers.

Singapore’s acting minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim resigned about a month after the prime minister learned of his improper interactions with a woman, a move observers say shows Lawrence Wong’s swift handling of the first scandal under his watch to contain any political fallout.
They told This Week in Asia that while there was no affair in Faishal’s case, it made sense for the party to deal with the consequences quickly in case of leaks as the woman was a member of…

Malaysia is stepping up surveillance on its eastern flank, pushing ahead with plans for a long-range radar at a frontline South China Sea outpost and launching newly operational drones.
The upgrades reflect Kuala Lumpur’s bid to improve its ability to detect threats as the Philippines revives its claim over Sabah state in Malaysian Borneo and Chinese patrols persist near its offshore energy fields.
Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said on Sunday that the radar would be installed on Swallow…