Lye Yu Min

Biography

Yu Min is a Partner in the Restructuring and Insolvency department at Oon & Bazul.

Yu Min regularly acts in complex cross-border debtor- and creditor-side engagements involving high value contentious and non-contentious distress situations, including debtor-in-possession schemes of arrangement, out-of-Court workouts and judicial managements. He typically represents insolvency professionals, financial institutions and global/regional conglomerates in a variety of sectors including the offshore & marine, industrial sustainability and construction industries. He also has an active dispute resolution practice covering international arbitration and litigation at all levels of the Singapore Courts, where he frequently represents clients in a wide range of commercial and contract disputes including joint venture/shareholder and construction/engineering matters.

Yu Min emphasises a commercially savvy, pragmatic and problem-solving approach that prioritises tailoring bespoke solutions to clients’ unique needs. He has significant experience acting for all of Singapore’s leading local banks/FIs and was previously seconded to the Singapore offices of a leading global bank as an in-house legal counsel, giving him invaluable experience and insight into the financial industry. He has been appointed by the Law Society to its Panel of Neutrals evaluating disputes at the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (FIDReC), an alternative dispute resolution centre focusing on the financial industry.

Yu Min prioritises technical excellence and thought leadership. He has been recognised as a Future Leader for Singapore by INSOL, the global federation of insolvency practitioners, and his articles and chapter contributions on specialist legal issues in the field of restructuring and insolvency have been published by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (India’s statutory insolvency regulator) and INSOL World, amongst others. He was also appointed as an assistant to a Singapore Law Reform Sub-Committee on bondholder debt restructuring issues and co-authored several chapters of the ensuing Singapore Academy of Law report.

Yu Min graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2016 and is admitted to practice in Singapore (2017) and England (2024). In his qualification examinations as an English solicitor, he placed in the top band of candidates globally for each of the two papers and achieved a rare perfect score in one module (Legal Ethics).

Notable Cases

Acted for judicial managers and subsequently liquidators of Swiber Holdings, the SGX-listed holding company of a global offshore and marine conglomerate, and its main operating subsidiary, in one of Singapore’s largest corporate insolvencies in recent years with both companies owing more than USD 1b each.

Acted in SGD 20m debtor-in-possession restructuring of Viking O&M (now 9R Ltd), an SGX-listed holding company of an offshore and marine group. Successfully argued one of Singapore’s first applications for sanction of a prepackaged scheme of arrangement.

Acted for liquidators of Three Arrows Fund, the offshore feeder fund in the Three Arrows crypto/digital assets group, in one of the world’s largest crypto insolvencies.

Acted for OCBC, a leading Singapore bank, as supporting creditor in SGD 30m restructuring by an SGX-listed construction group: Re Logistics Construction Pte Ltd [2023] SGHC 231, Re Logistics Construction Pte Ltd [2024] SGHC 58; Re Boldtek Holdings Limited [2024] SGHC 98.

Acted for judicial managers of Sen Yue, an SGX-listed holdco of recycling group, in a successful restructuring through scheme of arrangement.

Acted for judicial managers and subsequently liquidators of Ryobi Kiso Holdings, the SGX-listed holding company of a construction group. Successfully obtained novel orders for SGD 27m general distributions of dividends by judicial managers, which was generally not permissible under former provisions of the Companies Act.

Acted for judicial managers of USP, an SGX-listed holding company of an import/export group.

Acted for toys and games company (client confidential) in SGD 20m cross-border debt restructuring effort.

Acted for OCBC as supporting creditor in contested USD 235m restructuring by Falcon Energy, an SGX-listed holding company of an O&M group.

Acted for JMs of KH Foges, an engineering subsidiary of the Kridhan Infra construction group dual-listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India, in successful SGD 125m restructuring through scheme of arrangement.

Acted for Kobian, a distributor of computer peripherals, in USD 200m debtor-in-possession restructuring.

Acted for OCBC in successfully opposing attempted SGD 27m restructuring effort involving a debtor-in-possession scheme by Yun Onn, a Singapore construction company.

Advised cryptocurrency lending platform on Singapore insolvency issues arising from collateralisation of bitcoin in USD 250m secured financing.

Acted for Coca-Cola subsidiary in USD 10m insolvency clawback action. Successfully obtained landmark decision on application of limitation periods in multi-defendant scenarios involving fraud allegations: SW Trustees Pte Ltd v Teodros Ashenafi Tesemma [2024] 3 SLR 1410.

Acted for liquidators of MP & Silva Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of global media group, including acting in SGD 70m withholding tax dispute with local tax authority and as instructing counsel to Vietnamese solicitors in dispute with state-owned broadcasting group.

Acted for subsidiary of WK Asia-Pacific, a German environmental solutions group, in an SIAC arbitration against a Chinese subcontractor.

Acted for subsidiary of WK Asia-Pacific, a German environmental solutions group, in an SIAC arbitration against a Malaysian subcontractor.

Acted for BNP Paribas in USD 110m trust claim against UHNW former client in coordination with counsel in Monaco, France, Milan, Zurich, Luxembourg and US. Successfully obtained worldwide freezing injunction.

Acted for a major regional stock exchange (client confidential) in an investigation into alleged front-running activities by traders from a number of well-known financial institutions.

Acted for a HNW individual in SGD 6m trust claim against family members in Singapore High Court.

Acted for managing director of local woodworking SME in contentious probate dispute.

Appointed sole tribunal secretary in SIAC-administered ad hoc arbitration between South Korean industrial conglomerate and Shanghai-listed supply-chain management provider.

Includes matters worked on prior to joining the firm.