Judicial Insolvency Network Initiated by Supreme Court of Singapore

For the first time, 11 insolvency judges from 8 territories will convene in Singapore for the inaugural Judicial Insolvency Network ("JIN") conference on 10 and 11 October 2016.

2. The JIN, a network of insolvency judges from around the world, aims to encourage communication and cooperation amongst national courts by pulling together the best practices in cross-border restructuring and insolvency to facilitate cross-court communication and cooperation, which has become critical in today’s increasingly globalised economy.

3. At the inaugural JIN conference, participating judges will be conferring with a view to developing a set of guidelines conducive for communication and cooperation in cross-border restructuring and insolvency ("the Guidelines"). The Guidelines will provide a framework for parties in cross-border restructuring and insolvency to customise protocols to facilitate court-to-court communication and cooperation in each case. Several other interesting issues such as the recognition and enforcement of foreign insolvency judgments and the wider use of Alternative Dispute Resolution tools such as mediation and arbitration in cross-border restructuring will also be discussed at the JIN conference.

4. The Supreme Court of Singapore, as the host of the inaugural JIN conference, is honoured to have leading insolvency judges from the following jurisdictions (listed in alphabetical order) as participants and observers: Australia (Federal Court and New South Wales), the British Virgin Islands, Canada (Ontario), the Cayman Islands, England & Wales, Hong Kong SAR and the United States (Delaware and Southern District of New York). Judicial Commissioner Aedit Abdullah and Judicial Commissioner Kannan Ramesh represent the Singapore judiciary in developing this initiative.

5. The JIN conference this October is also timely as it dovetails with the increasing focus and concerted efforts of various local stakeholders from the private and public sectors to fortify Singapore’s position as an international debt restructuring centre. Notably, the Committee to Strengthen Singapore as an International Centre for Debt Restructuring, chaired by Senior Minister of State for Law and Finance Ms Indranee Rajah and Judicial Commissioner Kannan Ramesh, published a report this April which encourages the adoption of a multipronged approach to promote the recognition and enforcement of Singapore restructurings through, for example, the adoption of the Model Law and the improvement of communication and cooperation among foreign courts. The Committee’s recommendations, which have been accepted by the Ministry of Law, are opportune as regional law firms witness a significant increase in insolvency and restructuring work amidst rising global corporate defaults.

6 OCTOBER 2016

SUPREME COURT

For media queries, please contact:
Mr Khurshed Haron
Assistant Director,
Office of Public Affairs
Supreme Court of Singapore
DID: 6332 6164
Khurshed_Haron@supcourt.gov.sg