Some 469 cases valued at US$6.54b filed with Singapore International Arbitration Centre in 2021

A TOTAL of 469 cases involving disputes valued at US$6.54 billion were filed with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) in 2021.

Of these filings, the SIAC reported that 86 per cent or 405 were international in nature. The highest disputed sum for a single case was US$1.95 billion.

The SIAC, an independent and non-profit institution that provides arbitration services to the global business community, released these figures on Tuesday (Apr 12) in its annual report.

Parties from 64 jurisdictions chose to arbitrate at the SIAC last year, an increase from 60 jurisdictions in 2020. India, China and the United States were the top 3 foreign users, while other top 10 foreign users were from both civil and common-law jurisdictions.

The claims covered a range of sectors, mainly trade, commercial, corporate, maritime and shipping, as well as construction and engineering.

Arbitrators appointed last year by the institution came from diverse jurisdictions, including Singapore, Britain, Australia, the United States, India, Malaysia and China.

In 2020, the SIAC reported a record 1,080 cases involving disputes totalling US$8.49 billion; the high number of cases was partly due to a rise in disputes during the pandemic.

Singapore's Ministry of Law noted then that the high caseloads were not expected to be permanent as parties will learn to adapt to the new normal and exercise greater flexibility in their business dealings.