Chi Yen is Head of the firm’s Banking & Finance Practice.
Chi Yen regularly acts in a wide range of cross-border matters involving working capital, trade finance, structured finance, acquisitions, project, syndicated and asset financing (particularly in ship and real estate acquisition and finance). He also advises banks and financial institutions with compliance, AML, KYC and other regulatory requirements.
His clients comprise multinational lenders, including local and foreign banks, financial institutions, and leasing companies in jurisdictions including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, South Korea and Japan. He also has particular expertise in working with borrowers from commodities houses, traders and shipping lines. He is able to advise on complex insolvency and corporate restructuring scenarios and the realisation of securities / enforcement of non-performing accounts and provides lenders with practical and economical solutions.
In addition, Chi Yen has a breadth of experience in all aspects of non-contentious shipping work and frequently acts for shipping lines and banks in the financing, sale and purchase of vessels, registration and mortgages in local and international ship registries, including leasing arrangements, charterparties, carriage and freight.
He also has experience in real estate and conveyancing matters and regularly acts for parties in the acquisition and financing of commercial, industrial and residential properties as well as for mortgagees in the realisation of mortgaged properties.
- Acted as Singapore counsel for the lender in respect of syndicated term loan and derivative facilities to be granted to an Indonesian borrower involving securities taken in respect of over 20 Indonesian-flagged vessels.
- Advised an airport and aviation operations group in the financing of a US$90 million project by a leading multinational corporation for aerospace facilities and Airbus Industries A-380 and A-350 simulators.
- Advised on Singapore law and Singapore ship registry requirements involving senior and junior facilities granted by inter alia a Japanese bank and a Japanese leasing corporation to a major shipping line for the acquisition of a new-build bulk carrier (registered in Singapore) by means of a sale and bareboat charter-back arrangement.
- Acted for a club of six foreign banks in relation to insolvency proceedings against a local trading company for a recovery of a total outstanding amount of close to S$166 million.
- Acted for a secured creditor in the judicial management of the Singapore subsidiaries of a construction engineering conglomerate seeking to restructure over S$250 million in debt.
- Acted for the India-listed parent of a local pharmaceutical packaging company in judicial management proceedings and the company’s eventual restructuring by way of a US$25 million white knight investment.
- Advised on a joint venture agreement between the two largest RORO operators in the world and one of the world’s largest port operators in relation to a RORO terminal worth US$110 million.
- Acted for a local maritime company for the sale and purchase of a shipyard in China worth over US$ 70 million.
- Legal 500 Asia Pacific cited Chi Yen “as a name to note in shipping-related banking and finance matters, including vessel financing, mortgages, sales and purchases“, and also described him as a “key figure” in the firm’s Banking & Finance team.
- Chi Yen has been commended in Asialaw Profiles for displaying outstanding client service. Clients praised him as one who is “very effective”, possesses “in-depth knowledge”, “quick to respond”, pays “attention to detail” and is “solution-oriented”.
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