TAN Kai Yun is a Partner in the Restructuring & Insolvency, and Special Situations Advisory Practices.

Her main areas of practice are restructuring and insolvency, commercial litigation and international arbitration, and shipping and maritime law. On the restructuring and insolvency front, Kai Yun acts for corporate debtors, creditors, turnaround professionals, and investors.

Apart from her primary focus in restructuring and insolvency, and commercial litigation and arbitration, Kai Yun also has a specialist practice in shipping and maritime law. She has acted for bank creditors, ship owners, charterers, shipyards, offshore oil and gas companies in a variety of matters, including the enforcement against vessels, the sale and purchase of vessels, sale-and-leaseback agreements, charter agreements and shipbuilding contracts, vessel arrests, and documentary credit disputes.

Kai Yun graduated from Singapore Management University in 2014, and was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 2015.

Matters of significance which Kai Yun has been involved in include acting/advising for the following:

  • Pacific International Lines (Private) Limited, one of the largest carriers in the region, in a successful restructuring of its debts in excess of US$3 billion in Singapore, via a pre-packaged scheme of arrangement.
  • The judicial managers of Xihe Holdings Pte. Ltd., and over 40 of its subsidiaries to run a competitive structured sale process and vessel trading programme for a fleet consisting of over 80 vessels of varying types and sizes, following the collapse of its associates Hin Leong Trading and Ocean Tankers due to fraud.
  • Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited in the liquidation of Hin Leong Trading Pte. Ltd. involving liabilities in excess of US$3.5 billion, advising them on their cargo claims and also representing the client in defending claims brought under documentary letters of credit brought by suppliers.
  • As Singapore counsel to UK-incorporated subsea services provider EMAS Chiyoda Subsea Limited in its restructuring of liabilities of US$900 million, which was implemented by way of a process commenced under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code, which necessitated a recognition of substantive foreign insolvency orders under the common law in Singapore, overturning the long-established Gibbs principle.
  • A Korean gaming company in four complex multi-party and multi-contract arbitrations against its Chinese licensees / Korean co-licensor under the ICC and SIAC successfully, resulting in favourable awards totalling US$141 million.
  • Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited, the largest creditor in the liquidation of the Coastal Oil group, and acting in proceedings to recover a sum of US$131 million incurred by the group’s founder singly, from his co-mortgagor (reported in OCBC v Lim Sor Choo [2020] SGHC 116).
  • Crypto-asset lender in the cross-border liquidation of crypto-asset hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, involving liabilities in excess of US$3.5 billion, with its main liquidation proceeding based in the British Virgin Islands.

Related Practice

  • Restructuring & Insolvency
  • Special Situations Advisory

Kai Yun’s expertise in Restructuring and Insolvency has been recognised by various directories. Both IFLR1000 – The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms and Euromoney Asialaw Leading Lawyers have recognised Kai Yun as a “Rising Star”, and later “Rising Star Partner”, for their 2022 and 2023 guides. Kai Yun has been described by clients to “be very well versed in insolvency practice”, providing advice that is “balanced with practical considerations”. She has also been known to “provide valuable legal advice and recommendations” and “provide value-add on new legal judgments and how it impacts our line of work”.

Contact Details

Career & Qualifications

Singapore Management University (LL.B., Hons.)

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