Arfat Selvam
Senior Mentor Emeritus
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Phone: +65 6311 0031
- Duane Morris & Selvam LLP
16 Collyer Quay #17-00
Singapore 049318
Selvam LLC
16 Collyer Quay #17-00
Singapore 049318
Arfat Selvam was Managing Director of Duane Morris & Selvam LLP and Selvam LLC until March 2026. She is now Senior Mentor Emeritus.
Mrs. Selvam had over fifty years' experience as a corporate finance lawyer. She was at the forefront of the development of the financial services and capital markets in Singapore. Her wide array of experience includes mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructures, takeovers, fundraising in the capital markets, privatisations, financial services, cross-border investments, financial services and international joint ventures.
Mrs. Selvam had been closely involved in the legal changes driving the legal financial services sectors in Singapore. She was a member of the Company Law Reform Committee, which made major recommendations affecting the companies and securities laws in Singapore.
Mrs. Selvam was President of The Law Society of Singapore in 2003. She was also a member of the Senate of the Academy of Law, the Board of Legal Education, and on the Board of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. She served as a Director of Pro Bono SG until March 2025.
She had served on several corporate Boards including The Stock Exchange of Singapore Limited, Singapore Health Services and listed company CapitaLand Limited.
Mrs. Selvam was admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 1969 and retired from legal practice on 31 March 2026.
In Singapore, Duane Morris Singapore LLP and Selvam LLC operate a Joint Law Venture serving clients throughout Asia, Duane Morris & Selvam LLP, pursuant to Licence 2/2010 granted by the Attorney General of Singapore.
To the extent that the representative matters listed above fall outside the context of "permitted areas of legal practice" within the meaning of Section 36A of the Legal Profession Act (Chap. 161), they have been conducted by the abovenamed lawyer in his/her capacity as an Advocate & Solicitor of Selvam LLC, a Singapore law practice of the Joint Law Venture.
Representative Matters
Advising Heineken on its US$4.1 billion bid for Asia Pacific Breweries Limited, acquiring an additional 40 percent stake in the joint venture from its partners, Fraser & Neave Ltd, a Singapore-based conglomerate.
Advising HSBC on the sale of its Singapore general insurance businesses to French insurer AXA Group, as part of HSBC's wider multi-jurisdictional disposal of its general insurance businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore, Argentina and Mexico in a split deal to AXA Group and Australian insurer QBE.
Advising AIA on the restructuring and transfer of its Singapore life and general insurance business from a branch office to a wholly owned subsidiary incorporated in Singapore, through a scheme of transfer under Section 49FB of the Insurance Act of Singapore.
Advising DBS Bank in its S$1.6-billion acquisition of POSBank from the Ministry of Finance.
Advising Keppel Capital Holdings Ltd in the S$1.85-billion takeover offer by Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd for all its issued shares and outstanding listed warrants.
Admissions
- Singapore
Honors and Awards
- Awarded the International Bar Association (IBA) Pro Bono Award at the Annual IBA Conference in Toronto in November 2025
- Awarded the Public Service Medal, Pingat Bakti Masyarakat, at the National Day Awards in August 2024
Appointed as the Law Society Pro Bono Ambassador 2017/2018
- Awarded the Law Society of Singapore's CC Tan Award in 2015
Recognized in Banking and Finance by The Best Lawyers in Singapore since 2019
Recognized in Mergers and Acquisitions Law by The Best Lawyers in Singapore since 2018
Experience
- Duane Morris & Selvam LLP/ Selvam LLC