SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Doos Choi, Pierre Dzakpasu, Janelene Chen and Pieter de Ridder, Mayer Brown
it is typically provided in the underlying secu - rity documents that the receiver is the debtor’s agent. The receiver’s powers are generally regu - lated by the underlying security documents and usually include powers to take possession of and to sell the property. It is not really possible to speak of a “typical” restructuring. The core tenet in a restructur - ing remains to maximise value and realise this value in an expeditious manner. For example, lenders under an ABL structure will be focused on enforcing security over bank accounts and the receivables. Where the main security asset is real estate, enforcement of the property mort - gage may be foremost in the lender’s mind. Share pledges can certainly be expected to play an important role; particularly in dealing with structurally subordinated creditors and where the view is that the maximum realisation value lies in a sale of the business as a going concern. 6.2 Foreign Law and Jurisdiction Foreign Governing Law and Submission to Jurisdiction Singapore courts usually recognise and apply the parties’ choice of law to govern the substan - tive merits of a claim subject to certain limited exceptions which are rooted in public policy considerations and some specifically excluded areas, such as procedural rules and revenue matters. Waiver of Immunity Under the State Immunity Act 1979 (SIA), foreign states are generally immune from the jurisdic - tion of Singapore courts save for certain excep - tions provided in the SIA, such as where a state has submitted to the jurisdiction of the courts of Singapore, or where the proceedings relate to commercial transactions entered into by a state or a contractual obligation of a state (whether
commercial transaction or not) that has to be performed wholly or partly in Singapore. 6.3 Foreign Court Judgments There are two general and well-established routes to enforcement of foreign judgments in Singapore. Singapore provides a statutory regime for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judge - ments under the Reciprocal Enforcement of For - eign Judgments Act 1959 (the REFJA). Under the RFJA, a judgment creditor can apply to the General Division of High Court in Sin - gapore for registration of a final judgment to which the REFJA applies. The application must be made within six years after the date of the judgment. Once registered, a foreign judgement can be enforced in Singapore. As of writing, this registration scheme under the REFJA applies to qualifying judgments (typically final monetary judgments) from the courts of various countries including Australia, India, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. The second route for the enforcement of a non- Singapore judgment for a fixed or ascertain - able sum of money is via a common law court process. A judgment creditor can apply to have such judgment enforced by a separate action. Such a judgment will be enforced in Singapore by common law subject to a number of public policy and due process conditions. Singapore is a contracting state to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. This provides for the enforcement of arbitral awards from other signa - tory states.
276 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook