Knowledge & Insights

2016 was a landmark year for our litigation and dispute resolution practice. Among other highlights:

• the Court of Appeal released its landmark decision concerning an investor-state arbitration in the case of Sanum Investments Ltd v Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic [2016] SGCA 57, which decision has wide-ranging implications for bilateral investment treaties (BITs) involving the People’s Republic of China;

• the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision that a bank’s demand for payment pursuant to a chain of on-demand payment obligations was fraudulent in the reckless sense and delivered a potent reminder that, where demand guarantees are concerned, banks should not be recklessly indifferent to the validity of demands for payment in the case of Arab Banking Corp (B.S.C.) v Boustead Singapore Ltd [2016] SGCA 26; and

• the High Court, in a decision affecting the entire construction industry, clarified the extent and scope of liability of a developer, architect and main contractor of a construction project in a claim in tort for building defects in the case of Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No 3322 v Mer Vue Developments Pte Ltd and others [2016] SGHC 38,

where, in each case, WongPartnership acted for the successful party.

We are honoured to have won Asia Legal Awards’ 2017 Dispute Resolution Firm of the Year and Employment Firm of the Year, Asian-MENA Counsel In-House Community’s 2016 Firm of the Year (in seven categories including Restructuring & Insolvency) and we are ranked Tier 1 in Dispute Resolution by The Legal 500: Asia Pacific 2017 . We are pleased to share with you some highlights of 2016 which have contributed to our continued recognition in the market.