We are pleased to announced that our case update on the UK Supreme Court decision that accountants are not entitled to assert legal advice privilege, has been picked up and published by the Singapore Law Gazette. The Singapore Law Gazette article can be found here.

The article analyses the UK Supreme Court decision of Prudential plc & Anor, R (on the application of) v Special Commissioner of Income Tax & Anor [2013] UKSC 1 that only legal advice rendered by a qualified lawyer attracts legal advice privilege. The article also looks at the Singapore position on legal advice privilege as per the Singapore Court of Appeal case of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (Publ), Singapore Branch v Asia Pacific Breweries (Singapore) Pte Ltd and other appeals, [2007] 2 SLR(R) 367. The takeaway point is that commercial parties (and their non-legal advisors) would be well advised to ensure that their advice comes from a lawyer if they wish to ensure that that advice is protected by legal advice privilege. Alternatively, as with the Skandinaviska case, one practical approach might be for the tax advisers to prepare a joint report with qualified lawyers so as to ensure that communications with the client are protected.