SYNOPSIS

Environmental Due Diligence is a process of identifying environmental risks and liabilities in order to help business to make informed decisions about commercial real estate transactions, or merger and acquisition (M&A). What are the common key issues associated with the hidden “can of worms” that may have significant implications on liability and risk? Major non-compliance/ violations Operational constraints imposed by environmental approval conditions/ permit-to-operate/ licenses Contaminated soil and groundwater. Unaccounted high waste disposal cost Long term remediation/ clean-up. Professional EDD assessors will identify the recognized environmental conditions at the property and if necessary, will recommend further investigation or assessment to characterize or estimate the potential liability or risk. Without EDD, unknowingly the owner may be held liable by simply owning the property. From site clean-up to compliance obligations and even third party legal actions, the remediation costs can easily run into the millions for the liable party. As such, EDD is a useful tool for the Buyer as well as the Seller because it enables both parties to make informed decisions to proceed with the transaction with negotiated terms & conditions, or to cancel the deal.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER
                    
A chemical engineer by training,  Mr Chiew Teck Wee has 20 years of experience in environmental consultancy and project management. Mr Chiew received his degree from University of Malaya and later completed MSc in Environmental Technology at Imperial College London. He is registered with the Department of Environment (DOE) as Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Consultant. He is also a certified Lead Environmental Auditor. Mr Chiew has worked on numerous EDD projects with business, corporate clients and legal firms. He regularly provides consultancy and training on environmental compliance/ risk assessments and sustainability. Geographically, he has carried out environmental projects and studies in the Southeast Asia region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Sudan. Mr Chiew is the Managing Director and Founder of Riverstone Environmental Sdn Bhd. http://www.riverstone-enviro.com