Keith Han joins Oon & Bazul as Partner in the firm’s Restructuring & Insolvency Practice

Oon & Bazul is delighted to welcome Keith Han as a Partner in the firm’s Restructuring & Insolvency Practice, effective 1 July 2020.

Prior to joining the firm, Keith spent seven years at a magic circle firm in Singapore, and was also formerly a Justices’ Law Clerk and Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court of Singapore.

Keith’s practice focuses on complex commercial disputes and restructuring & insolvency. He has appeared as lead counsel at all levels in the Singapore Courts, including in the Court of Appeal, and his legal submissions have been recognised by the Singapore High Court in one reported case as being “succinct, thorough and well researched”, and from which the Court derived “considerable assistance”.

His work has also been recognised by leading legal publications: the International Financial Law Review cites Keith as a “Rising Star” for Restructuring & Insolvency in Singapore, while Legal 500 Asia Pacific has recognised him in the local litigation category as a “Next Generation Lawyer” and a rising star as a practitioner “who is praised for his advocacy and very strategic advice”.

Keith is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars. He is also presently a member of the Law Society of Singapore Insolvency Practice Committee, a founding executive committee member of the Young Insolvency Practitioners’ Committee of the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Singapore (IPAS), and a founding committee member of FIRE Starters, a global community of practitioners in the fraud, insolvency, recovery and enforcement sphere.

His representative experience includes:

Restructuring & Insolvency

• Acted for the Liquidators of OW Bunker Far East (KPMG) in a long-running, complex, multi-jurisdictional insolvency following the collapse of the OW Bunker Group, one of the biggest players in the global bunker trading industry.
• Acted for the Bank of New York Mellon as trustee of a US$500 million sukuk bond, in relation to the judicial management proceedings (supervised by the Singapore High Court) of Swiber Holdings.
• Acted for a major water treatment company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange in its S$2.3 billion court restructuring
• Acted for the Facility Agent and a syndicate of bank lenders in a contentious USD 537 million restructuring, involving the proposed sale of a FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) unit.
• Acted for an Informal Steering Committee of bondholders of Pacific Andes Resources Development Pte Ltd in court restructuring proceedings involving the application for an extra-territorial moratorium.
• Acted for the Facility Agent and a syndicate of bank lenders on the proposed restructuring of a Facility Agreement involving the owner of an offshore drilling rig
• Acted for international financial institution (with a focus on providing development finance in developing countries) in relation to debts owing from the Punj Lloyd Group
• Acted for a major international financial institution in the consensual restructuring of Noble Group as well as Singapore High Court proceedings involving the Noble Group
• Acted for a major international financial institution, as secured creditor, in the scheme of arrangement proceedings involving EMAS Offshore Ltd and other related EMAS entities in the Singapore High Court
• Acted for a Kuwait-based company with worldwide operations in the trading and marketing of crude oil and petroleum products in defending an application by a Singapore-incorporated wholly owned subsidiary of the national oil company of an Asian country for an injunction to restrain winding up proceedings

Litigation / Arbitration

• Acted for the Malaysian subsidiary of a major Japanese trading house, in a claim involving an alleged fraudulent scheme that caused an estimated loss of more than RM 179 million.
• Acted for one of the largest US online securities and brokerages firms against 10 individuals, in 10 separate but related arbitrations seated in Singapore under the ICDR Rules. The matter went before 3 different three-man tribunals. Total claim value is over S$80 million.
• Acted for the Defendant in the Singapore High Court and Court of Appeal in a complex breach of trust dispute over assets valued at between US$600 – US$800 million. This was one of the largest commercial/trust disputes ever to be litigated before the Singapore Courts.
• Acted for a Seychelles incorporated company (with PRC principals) in the Singapore High Court and Court of Appeal in relation to a fraudulent misrepresentation claim for over S$14 million.