Singapore Management University (SMU) Centre for Commercial Law in Asia and HSF Kramer Present Asian Arbitration Lecture: Arbitration and Winding Up: Is it Time to Embrace Change?

The impetus for this lecture is the recent global phenomenon in the field of arbitration whereby different jurisdictions, well-known in this field, have applied different tests to whether a winding up petition should succeed on a disputed debt where the parties have agreed to arbitration. Singapore has traditionally taken a pro-arbitration stance: AnAn (Singapore) Pte Ltd v VTB Bank (Public Joint Stock Company) [2020] SGCA 33. Other courts have applied the normal standard for petitions based on disputed debts.  This includes the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, on appeal from the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal. This lecture will examine the relationship between arbitration agreements and insolvency proceedings, and deal with such questions as whether claims in the latter can be determined by arbitration, as indicated by SIAC’s recently launched Restructuring and Insolvency Arbitration Protocol.  The lecture will suggest a modus vivendi between insolvency proceedings and arbitration.