Patton Boggs Signs to Lobby for Singapore on Trans-Pacific Partnership

Less than a month after White & Case filed paperwork with the U.S. Justice Department disclosing its advocacy in the United States for Singapore, this week another law firm in Washington revealed that it too is lobbying here for the Asian nation.

Singapore-owned investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. has retained Patton Boggs for work that includes "counseling and assisting the foreign principal in communicating with U.S. Executive and Legislative Branch officials concerning various issues relating to the Trans-Pacific Partnership," according to Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) documents the law firm submitted to DOJ. Patton is representing Temasek on the pan-Pacific free-trade pact for three months at $30,000 per month under a renewable contract, a letter Patton sent to Temasek on Monday shows.

Firm partners Joseph Brand and Frank Samolis, as well as public policy adviser Stacy Swanson, have notified DOJ that they are advocating for the company. Brand and Samolis are responsible for most of the work for the company, according to FARA records.

Patton spokesman Elliott Frieder declined to comment.

White & Case is lobbying on international tax policy matters for Singapore under a one-year, $300-per-hour contract that took effect on Feb. 1, FARA documents the firm filed on April 30 show. Miller & Chevalier, which had advocated in 2011 for Singapore on “[i]nternational tax issues of interest,” notified Congress last month that its lobbying relationship with the country ended March 31, according to congressional records.

Temasek owns stakes in companies that operate around the world in several sectors, including financial services, transportation, and energy. Chesapeake Energy Corp., Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Bank of China Ltd. are among the companies in its portfolio.

Representatives of Singapore, the United States and the seven other countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership met in Texas this month for a round of negotiations that included talks about state-owned entities. The United States is looking for “rules to ensure that these enterprises compete fairly with private companies,” according to an Office of the U.S. Trade Representative news release.