Dentons aims to leverage Council membership to build expertise in DLT, while exploring use cases for Hedera Hashgraph in asset tokenization, fund raising and smart legal contract deployment.

Hedera Hashgraph, the enterprise-grade distributed ledger, has announced Dentons as the newest member of the Hedera Governing Council. The Council, designed to be the most decentralized governance model for a public ledger, will include a total of 39 highly diversified enterprises and organizations reflecting several distinct industries and geographies.

Mance Harmon, CEO and Co-founder of Hedera Hashgraph, said, “We are thrilled that Dentons will join Hedera Governing Council in sitting with other top enterprises at the forefront of technological innovation. As a global leader in legal and regulatory matters, this move is yet another example of a multinational entity making the right decision to help their customers benefit from the adoption of distributed ledger technologies (DLT). More than that, it indicates the growing demand for expertise in the space, which this partnership will deliver.”

As the 16th Council member, Dentons joins a growing network of large enterprises, including Avery Dennison, Boeing, Deutsche Telekom, DLA Piper, FIS (WorldPay), Google, IBM, LG Electronics, Magalu, Nomura, Swirlds, Tata Communications, University College London (UCL), Wipro, and Zain Group. Dentons is the second Council member from the legal industry, furthering the Council’s representation from the field.

Members of the Hedera Governing Council are responsible for guiding both strategy and software development over a maximum of two consecutive three-year terms. This provides stability and ensures diversity and decentralization of the network governance. Hedera’s node policy and codebase are undergoing continuous updates, to which members will contribute and approve, supporting a governance model that eliminates the risk of forks, safeguards users, and preserves the integrity of Hedera’s network.

Singapore-based Dentons Partner and leading Fintech lawyer Kenneth Oh, who is the firm's initial representative on the Hedera Hashgraph Governing Council, said, “Dentons is the world’s largest polycentric global law firm. In having no single headquarters or dominant culture but diverse in terms of geography, language and nationalities with member law firms in 75 countries, Dentons’ Polycentric™ business model is fundamentally aligned with the inherent values of DLT. We leverage our diversity for understanding the nuances of different cultures and regions; for flexibility in responding to our clients’ needs wherever in the world they arise; and to provide innovative and client-focused solutions to complex business issues. Given the increasing proliferation of deployment of DLT across industries worldwide and the rate at which we are consulted on legal matters pertaining to DLT, we are at the forefront of legal consulting for DLT initiatives and use-cases implementation and look forward to contributing legal perspectives on and to participating in technological innovation in the DLT space as a member of the Hedera Governing Council.”

Dentons’ DLT team will be exploring collaborations with Hedera. Initial areas identified for collaboration include leveraging the Hedera Network for asset tokenization to support fundraising endeavours of our clients as well as smart legal contract development and deployment particularly in respect of tokenized assets, with Singapore as a jurisdiction testbed.

Harmon concluded, “There is no denying that COVID-19 has catalyzed a digital transformation, which is redefining business-as-usual. The addition of Dentons to the Hedera Governing Council will allow both parties to continue to transform the legal industry through DLT and will ensure continued innovation on legal issues relevant to DLT, opening avenues to thrive amidst a rapidly changing dynamic.”

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About Dentons Rodyk

Dentons Rodyk is one of Singapore's biggest law firms and part of the world’s largest, with a team of around 200 lawyers offering clients a full suite of legal services necessary to do business locally and globally. With over 160 years of establishment, consistently ranked highly in leading publications, we pride ourselves on providing the highest quality advice to our clients while maintaining strong working relationships with key public sector agencies and leading organisations in the private sector. Our combination with global law firm Dentons, makes us part of the world’s largest law firm with more than 12,500 professionals in over 160 locations in more than 80 countries.

Designed to be different, Dentons Rodyk can help you grow, protect, operate and finance your business. Our polycentric and purpose-driven approach, together with our commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity and ESG, ensures we challenge the status quo to stay focused on what matters most to you.

The first global pan-ASEAN law firm, Dentons ASEAN has an established history in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore and will continue to grow our presence through combinations with exceptional local firms across the ASEAN region and help clients navigate change wherever they are located.

In the new dynamic decade, clients continue to be confronted with complex scenarios and want to work with a purpose-driven law firm that has the experience and confidence to help them thrive at wherever they are located. Through our combinations with firms that are leaders in their respective communities and local markets, along with the partner firms in Dentons’ Nextlaw Referral Network, Dentons is ideally positioned to support our clients everywhere in ASEAN and around the globe.