Abstract:
The Court of Appeal (CA) in Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (Publ), Singapore Branch v Asia Pacific Breweries (Singapore) Pte Ltd rendered a thorough re-examination of legal professional privilege (LPP) at common law and statute. Problems arise when the rules of LPP (based as it were on “natural persons” as clients) are applied to corporations claiming privilege especially legal advice privilege. The CA’s decision to consider extending the scope of advice privilege might be in response to modern corporate practices, but it is argued that extending the scope of the privilege following the Australian position may raise more problems than it solves. A re-making of the rules relating to corporate client privilege needs to be formulated.