Lessons from Singapore restructuring attempts

Singapore

THE falls of the once-high-flying water treatment company Hyflux, as well as of other oil and gas companies, have cast a spotlight on the debt restructuring process and insolvency proceedings in Singapore.

Over the past few years, the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (Sias) was involved in several court-sanctioned restructurings. Many of these were for companies in the oil and gas sector. Drawing on this experience, Sias' view is that while the intention of Section 211 (B), which has now been replaced by Section 64 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act (IRDA), is to give debt-ridden, troubled companies breathing space to restructure their debts via schemes of arrangement, the entire process can be improved and streamlined for future cases.