Disruption, downturn and recovery tend to generate more disputes – and in Asia Pacific cross-jurisdiction operations and investments increase that risk. Our 2021 Guide to Dispute Resolution in Asia Pacific is your roadmap to potential problems in these fast-changing times, especially for those new to the region’s complex legal landscape. From the basics of each … Read more

Tomorrow marks an important day for dispute resolution users as the Singapore Mediation Convention comes into force, just over a year after its signing ceremony on 7 August 2019.   The UNCITRAL Working Group II’s aim to implement an international regime for the enforcement of mediated settlements broadly akin to the 1958 New York Convention for … Read more

Singapore’s Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act (the “IRDA“), together with 48 pieces of subsidiary legislation, comes into force today, 30 July 2020 (available here). The IRDA consolidates Singapore’s personal and corporate insolvency and debt restructuring laws into a single piece of legislation. It also introduces a number of significant reforms designed to simplify and modernise … Read more

On 2 August 2019, the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court of Zhejiang Province (Wenzhou Court) issued the Civil Ruling (2017) Zhe 03 Xie Wai Ren No. 7 (the Wenzhou Court Ruling) to recognise Judgement No. S139/2012 (Judgment) rendered by the Singapore High Court (Singapore Court) on 15 February 2013 (Oceanside Development Group Ltd. v. Chen Tongkao … Read more

In AnAn Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd v VTB Bank (Public Joint Stock Company) [2020] SGCA 33, Justice Steven Chong, delivering the judgment of the Court, (1) overturned the decision of the High Court which allowed a creditor (VTB Bank) to proceed with its winding up petition against a debtor (AnAn), and (2) upheld the arbitration … Read more

On 7 April 2020, the Singapore Parliament passed the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill (the COVID Act), which, amongst others, offers temporary reprieve to qualifying parties or qualifying contracts: found here. The COVID Act is a bold move by the Singapore government to pre-emptively manage the foreseeable increase in legal proceedings for enforcement of contractual rights. … Read more

From 12 September 2020, all international settlement agreements resulting from mediation will potentially be able to be enforced under the new Singapore Convention, regardless of where in the world the mediation took place. Article 14 of the Singapore Convention provides that it will enter into force six months after three signatory states have ratified it … Read more

Yesterday, on 25 February 2020, Singapore and Fiji became the first two countries to deposit at the United Nations Headquarters their instruments of ratification of the Singapore Convention, more formally known as the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation. Singapore and Fiji have taken an important step towards bringing the Singapore … Read more