Our Team

PHILIP T. N. KOH

Philip is the Senior Partner at MKP and brings to the Firm over 40 years of expertise in three worlds: the academic, the professional and industry. His specialisations include contract & investment laws, mergers & acquisitions, financial services & securities regulation, corporate & securities law & corporate governance, commercial & civil litigation and public law.

He has advised on several notable mergers & acquisitions transactions in the Malaysian financial sector, including the acquisitions of Phileo Allied Group by Malayan Banking Berhad and Southern Bank by CIMB Bank Berhad, and is also sought after for his expertise on Board governance matters for financial institutions.

In his capacity as senior counsel at High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court levels, he has also been involved in a number of landmark commercial, civil, public and constitutional law cases, some of which have helped shaped public discourse in Malaysia.

Philip’s writings have been widely published. He is also a much sought-after speaker and workshop facilitator for international, commonwealth and national conferences on corporate law and corporate governance matters.

He also has a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from Univerity Malaya, a Masters of Laws (LL.M.) from Kings College University of London and a Masters of Arts (Theology) from Australian Catholic University. He is also Founding Chair of World Vision Malaysia, a local chapter of a humanitarian  and relief organisation.

Philip is into the ‘gentle madness’ of books and reading poetry and philosophy. Art-house movies and classical music also move him deeply.

AREAS OF PRACTICE

• Arbitration
• Capital Markets
• Corporate and Commercial Advisory
• Corporate and Securities Regulation and Litigation
• Corporate Governance
• Cross Border Investments
• Governance Advisory and Training
• Civil and Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Public Law and Law Reform

Qualifications

• University of Malaya, LL.B (Hons), 1978
• King’s College, UK, LL.M, 1980
• Australian Catholic University, Australia, Master of Arts (Theology), 2003

Professional Affiliations

• Malaysian Bar, 1979
• Member, Panel of Arbitrators, Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration, 2010
• Notary Public

Fellowships & Past & Present Regulatory Sector Appointments

• Board member of MSWG (Minority Shareholder Group), Malaysia. 
• Served two terms as a member of the Financial Stability Executive Committee, Bank Negara Malaysia (Central Bank Malaysia). 
• Member of the Corporate Law Reform Committee, a Committee appointed by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs that worked for four years on a major law reform initiative on the Malaysian Company legislation leading to the Companies Act 2016. 
• Served as Member of Private Sector Advisory Group of Global Corporate Governance Forum based at Washington, International Finance Corporation/World Bank. 
• Served as member of Law Reform Committee (JPK Working Group II) and Corporate Governance in Malaysia, Finance Committee on Corporate Governance 1999. 
• Served as Executive Committee member of the Federation of Public Listed Companies and also as its Chairperson of the Technical and Regulatory Committee. 
• Served as member of the Ethics Committee which looked into the IFAC Code of Ethics for the Malaysian Institute of Accountants. 
• Served a member of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Audit Sub Committee (2002–2004). 

Past and Present Corporate Sector Appointments

• Served as Executive Director and Group Legal Director of a public listed company involved in inter-alia, banking and capital markets. 
• Served as Non-Executive Director of Asia Assurance Bhd. 
• Life member of Persatuan Ekonomi Malaysia. 

Academic Appointments

• Visiting Fulbright Scholar attached to Professor Oliver Hart of Harvard University, Economics Department in 1999.
• Served as Adjunct Professor of Deakins University, Australia and also as Adjunct Faculty Staff of the Handong International Law School at Pohang, Korea and Adjunct Professor of Law, Taylor’s School of Law.

Others

• Founding Chair of World Vision Malaysia, the Malaysian chapter of an international humanitarian and relief organisation. 
• Panel Arbitrator of the Asian International Arbitration Centre. 
• Notary public. 
• Named and nominated by his peers in International “Who’s Who in Corporate Governance” for Malaysia for several years.

Publications

Philip’s writings on financial sector regulation, contracts law, companies law, corporate governance and public law have been widely published: 

• Publishes regularly in journals and financial news media. 
• Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Bankers Journal Malaysia, a publication of the Institute of Banks Malaysia. 
• Provided Country reports to the World Bank and OECD on corporate governance and insolvency law reform. 
• Collaborated on an ADBI (Asian Development Bank Institute) project on Banking and Corporate Governance Report on Malaysia (2006). This was republished in the Malaysian Bankers Journal (June 2007) : Malaysian Corporate Governance in Banking. 
• Co-author of “The Law of Contract in Malaysia and Singapore - Cases and Commentary” (Oxford) (1979). 
• Co-author of “Chan & Koh’s Company Law” (1st and 2nd Edition) (Sweet & Maxwell) (legal treatise on corporations law in Malaysia). 
• Co-author of “Law of Meetings & Resolutions (Sweet & Maxwell) (2019). 
• Co-author of “Legal and Accounting Implications of S 67 A of the Companies Act: Scope and Strategic Operation of Share Buy Back” (MAICSCA). 
• Co-editor of “Sheridan & Groves Constitution of Malaya” (5th Edition) (MLJ) (a leading commentary on the Malaysian Constitution). 
• Chapter on “Constitutionalism, Conventions and Democracy: the Sabah Cases” in “Constitutional Landmarks in Malaysia: The First 50 years 1957-2007” (Lexis Nexis 2007).

Personal Involvements (Key Projects)

• Constitutional law disputes involving the states of Perak, Selangor and Sabah
• Tort case in Federal Court, establishing Concurrent Causation test as vs “But for”
• Land dispute at Court of Appeal
• Internal Securities Act Tribunals