Max Abbott is an Associate Managing Director and leads Nardello & Co.’s Political Risk Strategic Intelligence practice for the Asia-Pacific region. Based in Asia for the past decade, he also plays a key role in the firm’s litigation & arbitration support, criminal defense, and anti-corruption due diligence investigations.

• EXPERIENCE PRIOR TO NARDELLO & CO.

  Prior to joining Nardello & Co., Max was Head of Business Intelligence for Asia at a global investigations firm based in Hong Kong, where he was responsible for project management and business development. Earlier in his career, Max lived in Jakarta, Indonesia for six years. He was a Senior Associate with Vriens & Partners, a Southeast Asian government affairs consultancy, where he frequently engaged with Indonesian politicians and regulators while managing relationships with foreign investors looking to enter Indonesia’s energy, technology and manufacturing sectors. Max was also a Law & Policy Consultant for the Open Society Foundations, helping administer capacity development grants to Southeast Asia NGOs in the legal sector and performing research on access to justice.

• Max led a team of analysts to perform a policy terrain assessment and stakeholder mapping exercise of politicians, regulators, and local businesses in the Korean ride hailing industry on behalf of a global technology firm. The project involved interviews with numerous Korean government officials, trade association representatives, business executives, and diplomats. Investigations revealed a hypercompetitive marketplace that was also fraught with regulatory uncertainty. Before proceeding with entry into the Korean ride hailing market, the client requested additional assistance with a due diligence assessment of a potential local partner to help mitigate the attendant political risks.
• Max advised a European investment bank on forming a partnership with a state-owned Islamic bank in Brunei. While the investment bank wanted to understand the nuances of Islamic finance in Brunei, it was also concerned about the country’s wider political economy. Consultations with banking executives and financial sector experts based in Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia provided the client with an understanding of Islamic finance, with a particular focus on anti-corruption and compliance protocols. The investigation also provided an assessment of expropriation risks facing the private sector partners of Bruneian state-owned enterprises.

Education

• JD, International & Comparative Law, Columbia Law School
• BA, Political Science & Philosophy, George Washington University

Languages

• Indonesian (fluent)
• Malay (conversant)
• Spanish (conversant)
• French (beginner)

Professional Affiliations

• New York State Bar Association

Certifications

• Strategic Human Rights Litigation, Central European University

Publications

• How are Thailand’s Youth Protests Impacting Foreign Direct Investment?, The Diplomat, March 9, 2021