Number 1 - Canadian lawyers have JDs, like US lawyers. It is the general perception that a JD lawyer is better than an LLB lawyer, since JD is regarded as a post-grad professional degree in the Anglo American world.

Number 2 - the global economy of high finance and transaction is still very much a white man's world. It is just the reality that someone from the OECD economies of Canada or Australia, will be preferred over someone from Singapore, even if they're theoretically equally qualified and/or experienced.

This is the harsh reality of life. and no I'm not a racial equality SJW.