The Singapore International Commercial Court (the "SICC"), a division of the General Division of the High Court and part of the Supreme Court of Singapore, was established in 2015 as a trusted neutral forum to meet increasing demand for effective transnational dispute resolution. It recently considered, as a matter of first impression for the SICC, whether to approve a prepackaged scheme of arrangement for a group of Vietnam-based real estate investment companies under Singapore's recently enacted Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (the "IRDA").

Pierre Dzakpasu, Anne Jesudason and Florence W Y Li, Mayer Brown

This is an extract from the 2025 edition of GRR's The Asia-Pacific Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.

Introduction

In the course of bankruptcy proceedings, the disposition of property by the bankrupt is subject to a degree of control and restriction, requiring the consent or ratification of the Court. This protects the creditors from the unfair removal of property from the bankrupt's pool of assets.

The High Court in Singapore has ordered the winding up of Hodlnaut Pte Ltd, a Singapore based cryptocurrency lending and borrowing platform, as it was cash flow insolvent given that the cryptocurrency funds held by the company from various creditors count as ‘debts’ within the meaning of s125(1)(e) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (IRDA).

Introduction

Introduction

The Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (2020 Rev Ed) ("IRDA") allows companies intending to propose a scheme of arrangement to apply to court for a moratorium, during which proceedings against the company would be restrained so as to allow breathing room for its restructuring efforts. To balance this with the safeguarding of creditors' interests, there are certain requirements for an application for a moratorium.