Updates

An array of commentary, opinion and experience from our experts.

Recognition

Setia Law named ‘Boutique Law Firm of the Year’ at Asia Legal Awards 2024 as it approaches first anniversary

SINGAPORE, 15 MARCH 2024 – Setia Law (“Setia”), a specialist high-stakes dispute resolution and crisis management firm in Singapore, has been awarded Boutique Law Firm of the Year at the Law.com International Asia Legal Awards 2024.

15 March 2024

Insights

Can there be ‘winners’ in a Ponzi scheme? Singapore High Court examines the use of avoidance provisions in insolvency law to unwind profits paid out to early investors

Conventional wisdom says that by getting in early and getting out quickly, investors in even the most egregious fraudulent scheme can walk away with handsome profits, leaving later investors to bear the losses. In a recent case before the Singapore High Court, that conventional wisdom was put to the test.

11 March 2024

Insights

Early dismissal under Rule 29 of the SIAC Rules: when is it a breach of natural justice for an arbitral tribunal to dismiss a party’s case without a full evidentiary hearing?

In DBO and others v DBP and others [2023] SGHC(I) 21, the Singapore International Commercial Court has found that an arbitral tribunal did not breach natural justice in dismissing a party's case summarily pursuant to Rule 29 of the SIAC Rules, without a full-fledged evidentiary hearing.

29 December 2023

Podcasts

Black & White: Post-judgment crypto preservation and recovery, with Fountain Court’s Nik Yeo and Laurentia de Bruyn, and Setia’s Danny Ong.

So you’ve found yourself a victim of crypto fraud, and obtained a judgment against the fraudster. So far so good. But what about enforcement? In a special 2-part series, Setia’s Wern-Jhien and Danny Ong are joined by Fountain Court Chambers’ Nik Yeo and Laurentia de Bruyn to talk about the recovery of stolen crypto assets, and recent cases that shape and define the limits of what is possible in the ever-evolving crypto and digital assets space. In this 2nd part, we discuss what is probably the most important aspect of any crypto litigation, the actual recovery of crypto assets, as illustrated in Joseph Keen Shing Law v Persons Unknown & Huobi Global Limited.

19 November 2023

Insights

Singapore Court of Appeal holds that foreign liquidation proceedings involving solvent companies are within the scope of Singapore’s adaptation of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency

In June 2023, Setia Law’s Bethel Chan and Lee Jin Loong published an article discussing the Singapore Court’s treatment of foreign solvent liquidations under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-border Insolvency (the “Model Law”) in Re Ascentra Holdings, Inc [2023] SGHC 82 (“Re Ascentra (HC)”). The Singapore High Court had held that the voluntary liquidation of a solvent company, Ascentra Holdings, Inc under the Cayman Islands Companies Act (2021 Revision) was not entitled to recognition as a “foreign main proceeding” under Article 2(f) of the Third Schedule to the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018, which is Singapore’s enactment of the Model Law (the “SG Model Law”). At the time of the article, the decision was under appeal.

14 November 2023

Podcasts

Black & White: What happens when the crypto exchanges fight back, with Setia’s Danny Ong, and Fountain Court Chambers’ Nik Yeo and Laurentia de Bruyn

The crypto space is rife with fraud. The ethereal and borderless nature of crypto assets make it far too easy for fraudsters to spirit them away and escape detection. But that has not stopped lawyers from devising creative and sophisticated ways to trace and recover stolen crypto assets. In a special 2-part series, Setia's Wern-Jhien and Danny Ong are joined by Fountain Court Chambers’ Nik Yeo and Laurentia de Bruyn to talk about the recovery of stolen crypto assets, and recent cases that shape and define the limits of what is possible in the ever evolving crypto and digital assets space. In the 1st part, we discuss what happens when the exchanges fight back, as illustrated in Piroozadeh v Persons Unknown [2023] EWHC 1024 (HC).

19 October 2023

Insights

The case of the missing diamonds and diamond seeds

In a twin-judgment released by Justice Hri Kumar Nair, the Setia Team comprising Yam Wern-Jhien (Director), Bethel Chan (Associate Director) and Stanley Tan (Associate) successfully secured judgment against an ex-director for misappropriation of diamonds and diamond seeds, as well as a rare order expunging irrelevant, unreliable, and scandalous material adduced by the Defendant in an attempt to tarnish the reputation of the Claimant and its representatives.  

24 September 2023

Podcasts

Black & White: The dark side of the economy, with FTI Consulting’s Anna Bleazard & Setia Law’s Victoria Ting

Just as Singapore is rocked by the news of the Commercial Affairs Department's S$1.8B raid, we take a deep-dive into the underbelly of the economy - criminal monies, how they're laundered, what it means for the man on the street, and what we can do to combat it. Co-founder of Setia Law, Wern-Jhien is joined by special guest Anna Bleazard, FTI Consulting's Head of Financial Crime Compliance for Singapore and Southeast Asia. Setia's Victoria Ting also returns to weigh in on the conversation. Episode analytics

19 September 2023

Insights

Court exercises rarely invoked power to strike out and expunge irrelevant materials from affidavits filed in an opposed application for a judicial management order.

In Re X Diamond Capital Pte Ltd (Metech International Ltd, non-party) [2023] SGHC 201, the Singapore High Court exercised its rarely invoked power under r 21 the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution (Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring) Rules 2020 (CIR Rules) to strike out and expunge irrelevant materials from affidavits filed in an opposed application for a judicial management order.

23 August 2023

Podcasts

Black & White: Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAO)

Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) are an essential part of Web3. DAOs also operate within several legal grey areas, and have the potential of disrupting traditional business structures. Co-founder of Setia Law, Wern-Jhien is joined by Setia’s Stanley Tan, an aspiring specialist in digital technology, Web3, and disputes in cyberspace, to talk about DAOs – what are they, how does one become a member and how a DAO can be held responsible in the event of a claim.

27 July 2023

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