Is investigation licensed? Asia-Pacific, jurisdiction by jurisdiction

A free guide for lawyers, compliance teams, HR and investigators who instruct or carry out enquiries across borders. For each jurisdiction: whether private investigation is licensed, who licenses it, what triggers the requirement, and what the penalty is.

Download the PDFEPUB (e-readers)

Free, no sign-up needed. About 70 pages, with page numbers and a contents page for printing. Share it in full and unaltered.

Built from the AI9OS registry pages as they stood on the edition date. Each chapter carries its own "last verified" date. Before relying on one for a live matter, check the same page online.

What is inside

• How to read the registry: what "licensed" means here, and why the distinction decides whether a piece of work can be done at all.
• The quick reference: every jurisdiction in one table, with the trigger and penalty quoted word for word.
• Ten jurisdiction chapters: Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.
• What this book does not tell you: the open questions, stated plainly.
• Before you instruct anyone: how to check that an investigator is licensed.

General information for practitioners, not legal advice. Engage counsel qualified in the relevant jurisdiction before acting.

Taking a matter across a border? The Asia-Pacific Cross-Border Investigation Compliance Pack turns these findings into a decision: activities against jurisdictions, a pre-engagement checklist and engagement-letter language.

Written by Philip Choo, a licensed private investigator in Singapore. AI9OS publishes rules and information; it does not investigate. Licensed investigation work is done by Spyrrus Tech Pte Ltd: contact us and choose "Licensed help with a matter".