Description

This is a series of four workshops on the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (IRDA) and the developments since the seminal 2017 reforms. IRDA has come into force on 30 July 2020, bringing to fruition the most fundamental reform process to Singapore’s insolvency laws since independence. IRDA is a crucial step to Singapore achieving its objective of helping companies in the region and beyond that are in financial difficulties to restructure and survive.

The first workshop provides an overview to IRDA and examines the winding up provisions. Although most provisions on winding up are similar to their predecessors, there are important changes that require close examination, for e.g., the meaning of “commencement of winding up”, the new section on transaction defrauding creditors, disclaimer and the avoidance provisions which now apply directly to judicial management (JM) as well.

About The Speakers

Wee Meng Seng is an Associate Professor and the Deputy Director and Head (Corporate Law) of the EW Barker Centre for Law & Business at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (NUS), and an editorial member of the Singapore Journal of Legal Studies.  He obtained his LLB from NUS, BCL (First Class) and DPhil from Oxford. He teaches corporate insolvency law and company law. He has published in journals including the SAcLJ, LQR, SJLS and the LMCLQ and chapters in Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press books.  His writings have been cited by fellow academics, the Singapore Court of Appeal and the Australian Federal Court. He was a member of the Insolvency Law Review Committee and a visiting professor at various law schools.

Harold Foo is Assistant Director in the Policy Advisory Division at the Ministry of Law.  Harold is closely involved in debt restructuring and insolvency policy development.  Notable legislation he has worked on include the Companies (Amendment) Act 2017, the Companies (Amendment) Act 2018, and the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018. Internationally, Harold has been part of Singapore’s delegation to UNCITRAL Working Group V (Insolvency Law) since May 2017, and chaired the Working Group at its 56th session (Dec 2019).  He was actively involved in the negotiations and completion of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Recognition and Enforcement of Insolvency-related Judgments (2018) and the UNCITRAL Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency (2019). Harold is a member of the International Insolvency Institute’s NextGen Leadership Programme.