Singapore Mediation Centre names new executive director

THE Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) has appointed Ban Jiun Ean as its new executive director. He will take over from incumbent Loong Seng Onn on July 1.

Mr Ban was previously a policymaker at the Ministry of Law, and has contributed significantly to Singapore's alternative dispute resolution industry, SMC said in a media statement on Monday.

"His firm belief in the value of mediation as a dispute resolution mechanism is rooted in his work for the Ministry of Law's Community Mediation Centres," SMC said.

He was also the founding chief executive officer of Maxwell Chambers, the world's first integrated dispute resolution centre.

Mr Ban said he will work hard with the SMC team to establish mediation as the primary dispute resolution mechanism in Singapore, and to strengthen SMC's position as a leading alternative dispute resolution centre in Asia.

Meanwhile, Mr Loong, who has been with SMC since its inception in 1997, is leaving the executive-director role to pursue personal interests. He will continue to serve at SMC as a consultant.

SMC is a subsidiary of the Singapore Academy of Law. Its core service is mediation, which does not require parties to go to court to settle their differences. It also offers other dispute resolution services such as adjudication, neutral evaluation, collaborative family practice and Singapore domain name dispute resolution.

It is one of four designated mediation service providers under Singapore's Mediation Act, which means SMC-administered mediation settlements can be converted into immediately enforceable court orders.