We focus on resolving high-value and complex commercial disputes for our clients, providing tailored, practical advice to domestic and international clients to manage and tackle their issues at all stages of a dispute. We have particular experience in representing clients in arbitration-related court proceedings, professional liability disputes, asset freezing disputes, private equity disputes and construction disputes.
Our disputes team has extensive experience in litigation in the Singapore Courts, with our litigators being featured individually and as a team in over 60 High Court, Court of Appeal and Singapore International Commercial Court judgments. Our disputes team also regularly works with our Formal Law Alliance partner Herbert Smith Freehills’ top-tier international arbitration practice as co-counsel on major international arbitrations.
Our practice comprises specialist advisors with expertise across various sectors (including oil, gas, energy, energy transition, utilities, communications, telecommunications and transportation). Our lawyers have deep sector experience in projects and infrastructure across all asset classes and at every stage of a project lifecycle. We typically advise clients at all sides of projects and transactions (be it owners, developers, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers or consultants). The specialist practice provides an industry focused and practical mindset to our clients to help them successfully navigate and implement business strategies across South East Asia and beyond.
Our team has acted for debtor companies, insolvency professionals, and creditors across the spectrum of cross-border restructuring, scheme of arrangement, judicial management, and insolvency proceedings. The team specialises in finding innovative and creative solutions to ensure a successful restructuring for the client.
Our team has acted as debtors’ counsel for companies across a range of industry sectors, including high-profile briefs in crypto asset insolvencies, listed companies on the Singapore Exchange, real estate, F&B, and manufacturing.
The team also advises companies on corporate restructurings and acquisitions, including the internal restructurings of the group business and transactions involving distressed assets. Our team also has a strong creditor-centric practice, acting for creditors in a raft of cross-border insolvencies across various jurisdictions in ASEAN and beyond.
The team regularly acts for insolvency professionals, including liquidators and judicial managers, in contentious applications involving novel questions of law before the Singapore courts. The team is one of the few in Singapore to have successfully acted for foreign appointment holders to obtain recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings in the Singapore court.
In recent years there has been an unprecedented level of regulatory reform globally, regionally and nationally across financial services.
The myriad of highly complex new regulations, increasingly intrusive and coordinated regulators, and severe penalties for compliance failures or poor conduct, has a significant impact on regulated firms’ strategy and operations – a state which shows no sign of changing in the foreseeable future.
We have a deep knowledge and understanding of the regulations themselves, and of the regulators who devise and enforce them. We are genuine specialists in this field, and act as trusted advisors to our clients, providing advice that showcases our technical expertise and practical commercial outlook. We help our clients solve their most complex and sensitive national and international regulatory challenges (both proactive and reactive).
Our expertise covers the full spectrum of regulated firms’ key issues including regulatory change, enforcement and investigations, governance and risk management, compliance advice, market conduct, complaints handling, financial crime and the regulatory aspects of transactions or restructurings.
We regularly represent lenders and borrowers in all aspects of complex cross-border syndicated bank financings. With our formal law alliance partner, Herbert Smith Freehills, we offer our clients a seamless, one-stop service for financings involving taking and perfecting collateral across multiple jurisdictions and governing laws.
We provide a market-leading offering for mergers & acquisitions, investments, joint ventures, and complex commercial transactions. In particular, we are specialists in cross-border transactions, and for transactions in or involving the technology, media and telecommunications, and energy sectors. The team is also very active in the venture and growth capital space, servicing investor clients ranging from conventional venture and growth capital funds to cross-over investors such as sovereign wealth funds, private equity funds, corporate venture, and family offices. We also provide support to a growing portfolio of founders, startups and emerging companies for equity fundraising, business expansion, regulatory compliance, and general advisory matters.
Our lawyers have significant experience in advising leading local and international corporations, both listed and unlisted, on the latest developments in corporate laws and regulations. We advise boards, directors, institutional investors and multinationals on corporate governance, data protection, compliance, disclosure and regulatory issues. We continually strive to assist our clients in keeping up-to-date with “best practice” in the sectors relevant to their businesses and on implementation of corporate governance and compliance arrangements to ensure they remain at the forefront of their industries.
Our employment practice advises both local and multinational employers and employees on a wide range of employment-related issues across different industries. We regularly assist clients (both corporates and individuals) on the drafting and reviewing of employment contracts and handbooks, and termination issues, as well as employee incentives, benefits and compensation schemes.
Our comprehensive service and expertise covers a broad spectrum of executive and employment-related matters and our experience extends to the provision and implementation of bespoke arrangements tailored to meet the specific requirements of each client, in addition to general guidance through the web of regulatory issues affecting employee benefits and executive remuneration in Asia.
Our lawyers have substantial experience advising on complex capital raisings in the financial markets. The team advises on the full spectrum of equity and equity-linked transactions including initial public offerings on the Singapore, Hong Kong and U.S. exchanges, secondary offerings, right issues, private placements and reverse takeovers.
Our lawyers have represented issuers, selling shareholders, investors and underwriters. Our experience working with listing authorities and regulators allows us to provide valuable insight from a local practice perspective.
Our practice supports corporates, investors and entrepreneurs on structuring, drafting and negotiating complex multi-jurisdictional joint venture agreements and strategic alliances, including funding, governance and exit arrangements.
The breadth and depth of our experience in addressing legal and commercial challenges across jurisdictions and sectors (including manufacturing, consumer products, energy, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, technology, media and telecommunications, and hospitality) mean that we understand the practical issues facing such ventures and strategic alliances in each sector. We can quickly and effectively device value-added solutions that pre-empt add value by pre-empting complications that hinder achievement of your business objectives.
We regularly assist our clients with complex multi-jurisdictional acquisitions, investments and disposals in Southeast Asia and beyond, and have a deep understanding of the practical, logistical and cultural challenges in executing transactions of such nature and magnitude.
Our lawyers blend the highest standards of legal expertise with commercial and strategic acumen to provide practical solutions and innovative, client-oriented advice. Our experience includes public M&A transactions including takeovers of Singapore listed companies, schemes of arrangement, delistings, privatisations and divestments, where we have acted for bidders, targets and financial advisers on both recommended and hostile bids.
Our senior corporate advisers have practised at leading M&A practices of global elite law firms, and have a strong track record of advising local and international enterprises, whether listed or unlisted, on cross-border M&A transactions in or from Asia.
Our lawyers have acted for private equity firms, equity investors, funds and management teams on their investments in Asia and beyond. We have advised on private equity investments in a wide range of sectors including consumer products, fintech and financial services, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, energy, and technology, media and telecommunications.
Our deep industry experience and familiarity with sector-specific challenges enable us to help clients position themselves at the forefront of their industries. We can assist clients through the entire investment cycle – from the start of their investment to, divestitures, add-on acquisitions, financing, leveraged buy-outs, pre-IPO and secondary investments, joint ventures, and exits.
