ACCRALAW Partner Melissa Angela G. Velarde will attend the International Bar Association (IBA) Asia Pacific Mergers & Acquisitions Conference that is slated for 9-10 April 2026, at The Peninsula Tokyo, Japan. The conference is focused on navigating the complexities of the current macroeconomic and geopolitical climate within the Asia-Pacific region.
Ms. Velarde will share her insights during Session 3: “Unlocking value: navigating intellectual property in global M&A transactions.” She will be part of an expert panel together with other lawyers from the US, UK, South Korea, and Japan in exploring critical issues and emerging trends in managing IP rights in cross-border deals. The discussion will cover effective IP due diligence, strategies for risk allocation and valuation, complex licensing arrangements, data and technology transfer challenges, and local legal nuances.
A member of ACCRALAW’s Corporate and Special Projects Department, Ms. Velarde is a double-qualified professional – as she is both a licensed lawyer and a Certified Public Accountant.
She specializes in general corporate work, acquisitions, joint ventures, foreign investments, public procurement, securities, competition law, and energy law, handling complex transactions across industries such as banking and finance, power and energy, fintech, pharmaceuticals and logistics, among others. With over two decades of experience, she has been recognized as a “Recommended Lawyer” by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific in 2021, a “Notable Practitioner” for M&A by IFLR1000 in 2025, and has authored several expert guides on ESG and Banking and Finance for international publications.