Michael Beckman
Partner, Ernst & Young Vietnam, Managing Partner, EY Law Vietnam
Michael currently leads the law firm of EY Vietnam, a fast growing team of 35 corporate lawyers with offices in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. EY Law Global has over 3,900 lawyers in 92 offices around the world, making it the fifth largest law firm globally, and is currently expanding quickly throughout ASEAN. Michael will head this expansion process in Indochina.
Michael has over 20 years’ experience in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and corporate law. Prior to joining EY, Michael worked as a corporate attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, London and Los Angeles, as well as Debevoise & Plimpton in New York, focusing on international corporate bankruptcy, securities and M&A work. He is a member of the bar of New York and California and is a licensed foreign lawyer in Vietnam.
Outside of law, Michael worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in their pharmaceutical practice group and as a Managing Director of an alternative investment fund.
Michael graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University, received his M.A. from Princeton University and his J.D. from Yale Law School. He also studied at both Cambridge University in the UK and Georg-August University in Germany.
AmCham Vietnam Experience
Michael has served on the AmCham Vietnam Board of Governors for six years, including four years on its Leadership Committee and two years as Vice Chair.
In 2019, Michael served as the chair of the Search Committee for the Executive Director, which culminated with great success in the hiring of Mary Tarnowka, former US Consul General, who helped lead AmCham through the end of 2022.
Michael actively participated in the successful launch of AmCham Danang, which received its license from the Danang People’s Committee in June 2020, sitting on the Board of Governors of AmCham Danang for its first two years.
He also served as the chair of the Nominating Committee in 2018 and again in 2020. He actively recruited women to run for the Board and feels real satisfaction that the total number of women on the Board – which had fallen to 2 out of 18 by the end of 2018 – has reached an all-time record high.
Statement of Interest/Vision
In February 2022, AmCham Vietnam unanimously voted to create a Task Force to research good governance best practices and draft a new charter, which the Board subsequently sent to the General Membership for approval.
In December 2022, the General Membership of AmCham Vietnam overwhelmingly approved the new Charter with an 86% supermajority vote.
The vision for the restructuring of AmCham Vietnam is simple and clear:
- We will have unified, transparent finances, including a single membership fee nationwide that will allow any member, wherever located, to attend any event in the country.
- We will have unified, transparent national advocacy for all of our members.
- We will have one National Board of the Chamber overseeing the operations of the three branches in Ho Chi Minh City, Danang and Hanoi.
This vision has been endorsed powerfully by a supermajority of the 3,200 members of AmCham Vietnam and needs to an active National Board to implement it. It would be an honor to be part of the team which realizes the vision.