Ajinderpal Singh

Practice Areas

Ajinderpal Singh is a senior partner in Dentons Rodyk’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution and Arbitration practice groups.

Ajinder has three main practice areas. He is a leading practitioner in the field of restructuring and insolvency and has been ranked as such for many years. He is well-versed in both contentious and non-contentious insolvency matters and acts regularly for liquidators, receivers, judicial managers and trustees. He has been involved in preparing schemes of arrangements between companies and their creditors and reconstruction and amalgamation schemes. On the contentious side he has represented creditors and liquidators. He assists them in investigations into the affairs of the company, notably in cases involving fraud and to come up with asset recovery/protection strategies which invariably include cross border actions. He is especially noted for his cross-border insolvency expertise. Many of his matters are cross-border in nature often involving complicated actions to be taken in Singapore in tandem with restructuring/claim efforts in several other jurisdictions. He enjoys the complexities of such matters.

Ajinder and his team are also authors of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act Compendium (LexisNexis) released in November 2020. The IRDA was passed in July 2020 and represents the conclusion of a long review of Singapore’s insolvency laws and is aimed at positioning Singapore as a restructuring hub in Asia. The new laws incorporate elements of US Chapter 11 proceedings by way of moratorium proceedings allowing the debtor to remain in control pending presentation of proposals of its scheme of arrangement with creditors. Further Singapore has also become a signatory to the Model law. The IRDA Compendium is one of the few resource books published to date concerning the new laws and contains detailed section by section analysis with relevant case law expositions including a detailed write up on how the cross-border elements in the new law are to apply including court to court protocols.

He is also well versed in international arbitration matters. As counsel, he has been involved in many international arbitrations conducted under the auspices of the ICC and SIAC, most notably in the areas of oil and gas, joint venture, M&A/distressed debt and infrastructure disputes. He regularly acts for MNCs, state owned national entities across the region and many leading funds worldwide in these matters. Given the nature of the disputes he handles, the value of the claims range in the tens to hundreds of millions. He is also well versed with issues related to the enforcement of arbitral awards, including applications for the setting aside and enforcement of such awards. He has been involved in many of the leading reported cases on arbitration related matters that have gone before the Singapore Courts including in niche areas such as discovery obligations of international counsel in international arbitration matters.

A review of his experience statement and of the many steady accolades he has received over the years clearly highlights his expertise in these areas. He is also the co-head of the firm’s restructuring and insolvency, white collar investigations and competition law practices. Given the cross-border nature of many of his matters, he is also the co-head of the firm’s Indonesian and Indian practices.

As a litigator, he is adept at handling extremely commercial financial disputes and shareholder disputes. He is presently advising a key shareholder in a major palm oil group spanning several continents whose business is valued at over a billion dollars. In such matters, critical analysis is needed to both resolve and best advocate the claims of parties. Apart from claims of oppression, practitioners in such areas need to be intricately familiar with the global operations in order to consider asset split, buy out or even winding up avenues to resolve the dispute, An understanding of valuation and accounting methodologies is essential in handling such disputes. Such matters tend to also take years to resolve and much staying power is needed to see the matters to their ultimate conclusion.

Career

Senior Partner, Dentons Rodyk (2004 – Present)

Rajah & Tann (1998 – 2003)

Drew & Napier (1997 – 1998)

Professional Memberships

Reserve Panel of Arbitrators, Singapore International Arbitration Centre

Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

Fellow, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators

Associate, Insolvency Practitioners Association of Singapore

Publications

Singapore’s new insolvency law: a status report on the progress of the new regime

Scammed or hacked? Overview of common fraud techniques and the corporate response playbook

Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act Compendium