The Steward & Regional Alignment
Four decades of boardroom judgment and partner-level fiduciary liability. Sovereign APAC governance alignment across Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.
Michael Velten — Founder & Steward
Former Senior Partner at Deloitte Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific Financial Services Tax Leader. Over four decades across international law firms, the Big Four, and senior in-house leadership at Goldman Sachs and CITIC CLSA.
Institutional Fiduciary Authority
Michael brings rare institutional continuity to AI governance in taxation. As a former Senior Partner at Deloitte Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific Financial Services Tax Leader, he has advised sovereign wealth funds, multinational banks, private equity institutions, and global asset managers on complex cross-border structuring.
Having held senior in-house tax leadership roles at Goldman Sachs and CITIC CLSA, Michael approaches AI governance not as an abstract IT deployment, but through the uncompromising lens of fiduciary duty, audit defensibility, and regulatory examination.
Statutory Accountability
Decades leading pan-Asian financial services tax practices, personally signing off on multi-jurisdictional tax positions under intense revenue authority scrutiny.
Global Investment Banking Insight
Direct executive leadership within premier global institutions (Goldman Sachs, CITIC CLSA), navigating trading desks, asset management mandates, and board risk committees.
Uncompromised Guidance
Dedicated exclusively to independent advisory, steering enterprise CFOs and tax directors through the algorithmic transformation of high-stakes tax functions.
Advisory Independence Mandate
Strict tool agnosticism: zero software reseller commissions, zero vendor referral fees, and zero implementation billable hours.
Zero Vendor Reseller Margins
We do not sell software licenses, broker vendor partnerships, or collect affiliate kickbacks from LLM vendors or enterprise compliance platforms. Our counsel is 100% aligned with your legal protection.
- No software resale or licensing markups
- No referral fees from AI platform vendors
Zero Implementation Billable Hours
We do not profit from bloated systems integration scopes or endless software engineering contracts. We design lean, defensible verification frameworks and step away once controls are verified.
- Fixed-scope advisory deliverables
- No incentive to prolong integration cycles
Evidence-Led Risk Scrutiny
Every AI model, prompt chain, and agentic tax calculation is evaluated against sovereign statutory standards and audit examination thresholds — never unverified vendor claims.
- Forensic output verification
- Primary statutory citation testing
Direct Principal Stewardship
No junior delegates or leveraged teams. Every engagement is led directly by Michael Velten, providing CFOs, General Counsels, and Audit Committees with authentic partner-level counsel.
- Direct partner engagement
- Board-ready risk reporting
Sovereign APAC Regulatory Stacks
AI governance must anchor in sovereign statutory standards and regulatory enforcement expectations across key financial hubs.
Singapore: IMDA Model Framework & MAS FEAT
Singapore represents the global gold standard for pragmatic AI governance, combining ethical principles with sector-specific financial and taxation oversight.
- IMDA Agentic AI Framework (May 2026) & AI Verify
- MAS FEAT Principles & Technology Risk Management (TRM)
- IRAS Tax Governance Framework (TGF) & Tax Risk Management
- Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA 2012)
Australia: APRA CPS 230 & AI Ethics
Australia enforces strict operational risk accountability on financial institutions and corporate taxpayers, demanding verifiable automated controls.
- APRA CPS 230 Operational Risk Management
- Australian AI Ethics Principles & Voluntary AI Safety Standard
- ASIC Regulatory Guide 259 (Risk Management Systems)
- ATO Corporate Tax Governance & Justified Trust Model
Hong Kong: PCPD Framework & HKMA Guidelines
Hong Kong prioritizes personal data privacy safeguards alongside banking supervisory guidelines for algorithmic decision-making.
- PCPD Model AI Data Protection Framework (2024)
- HKMA High-Level Principles on Artificial Intelligence
- SFC Circulars on Operational Resilience & Algorithmic Oversight
- Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO)
Malaysia: BNM RMiT & National Guidelines
Malaysia balances progressive national AI adoption guidelines with rigorous central bank requirements for technology and cloud operations.
- Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) RMiT (Risk Management in Technology)
- MOSTI National AI Governance & Ethics Guidelines (2024)
- LHDN Corporate Compliance Frameworks & Tax Governance
- Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA 2010)
Engage with The Steward directly
Request a confidential, partner-level governance briefing on sovereign regulatory alignment, internal risk audit, or vendor verification.