Ashok Kumar

Practice Areas

• Corporate insolvency

• Corporate restructuring

• Corporate finance

• Corporate and commercial litigation

Career

Ashok Kumar is an internationally recognised lawyer with over 30 years of experience specialising in Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency. He leads the practice at BlackOak LLC, an independent special situations legal firm. Ashok has acted in many high-profile restructuring and insolvency deals across jurisdictions, either as Singapore counsel or international counsel. Handling both the contentious and non-contentious aspects of this practice on cross-border as well as domestic deals, Ashok regularly acts for debtors, creditors, financial institutions, funds and insolvency professionals, providing practical solutions when companies are in a distress or near-distress situation.

Ashok has also contributed significant time and resources towards the development of the corporate restructuring and insolvency field in Singapore and the region. He sits on various committees in law reform and practice development in restructuring and insolvency. He has also released various publications related to his core practice area.

Professional Memberships

• Director, Insolvency Practitioners Association of Singapore

• Member, Law Reform Committee, Singapore Academy of Law

• Adjunct Lecturer, Singapore Management University

• Member of Advisory Board of the Singapore Global Restructuring Initiative (SGRI)

• International Insolvency Institute Representative in UNCITRAL WG V

• Supreme Court Insolvency and Restructuring Court Users’ Committee (IRCUC)

• Member of the CII Task Force on Insolvency and Bankruptcy of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

• Co-Chair of the Asset Tracing and Recovery Colloquium of INSOL International

• Subject Editor of Singapore Academy of Law Practitioners Online for insolvency & restructuring

• Committee Member of the Insolvency Practice Group (IPG) of INSOL International

• Member, Insolvency Practice Committee of the Law Society of Singapore

Work Highlights

• Acted for the liquidators of OCAP Management Pte. Ltd. (in compulsory liquidation), in connection with the highly publicized Wirecard scandal, in relation to the restrain of US$8.63 million under the Mutual Assistance In Criminal Matters Act 2000 (“MACMA”) against the backdrop of the Wirecard fraud scandal. For the first time, the Singapore court laid down the principles involving the paragraph 14(2) exception of the Third Schedule to the MACMA.

• Advising on the liquidation of Bijlipay Asia Pte. Ltd. in connection with the Wirecard scandal for the sale of valuable assets of the company, and leading investigations into the company’s affairs to determine if claims can be brought against the company’s former management, shareholders and/or other third parties

• Advising on the liquidation of Three Arrows Capital, Ltd. (in liquidation) (“3AC”), and successfully compelled Luna Foundation Guard and Terraform to provide the necessary information regarding 3AC’s assets

• Successfully defended Tembusu Growth Fund III Ltd and Qualgro Pte Ltd in ACE Spring Investments Ltd v Balbeer Singh Mangat and another [2024] SGHC 277 that enforcement of loans made by lenders do not amount to conspiracy

• Acting in the milestone case of Ascentra Holdings, Inc (in official liquidation) v SPGK PTE LTD [2023] SGCA 32, where the Singapore Court of Appeal held that the UNCITRAL model law on cross-border insolvency should be interpreted broadly to include foreign proceedings concerning companies that are neither insolvent nor severely financial distressed.

• Advising a prominent co-working space provider on its complex restructuring, in relation to, amongst others, the restructuring of its Singapore subsidiaries. The group is one of the largest players in the industry, operating from over 700 locations with approximately 653,000 members worldwide.

• Advising and representing the Singapore-incorporated debtor companies of FTX, previously one of the biggest players in the crypto industry valued at USD 32 billion, in US Chapter 11 proceedings in the aftermath of the high-profile FTX exchange collapse.

• Acting as local counsel to the Century Sunshine Group entities and advising the appointed liquidators in relation to the Group’s cross-border restructuring of outstanding debt valued at HKD 3.24 billion.

• Advising and assisting the liquidators of a prominent Singapore-based cryptocurrency hedge fund in relation to their ongoing investigations and potential claims.

• Acting for the principal secured creditor in the liquidation of an Indian fashion e-commerce “unicorn” that had defaulted on a USD 40 million facility agreement, as well as advising on potential funding and its broader litigation and recovery strategy.

• Acting as local counsel for an Ad Hoc Committee of Noteholders of Mulhacen Pte. Ltd. in relation to the restructuring of the €515 million 6.5%/7.25% Senior Secured PIK Toggle Notes due 2023.

• Acting for the Duniatex Group in proceedings for the recognition of PKPU orders and, subsequently, the Indonesian restructuring plan in respect of the Group in Singapore under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency and common law.

• Acting as local counsel for an Ad Hoc Committee of Noteholders and certain other lenders of CFG Investment SAC in relation to the restructuring of its USD300 million, 9.75% senior unsecured notes due 2019.

• Acting for BLD Investments Pte Ltd in relation to the restructuring of its Guaranteed Equity Linked Bonds, guaranteed by PT Bakrieland Development Tbk.

• Acting as local counsel for an Ad Hoc Committee of Noteholders of Blue Ocean Resources Pte Ltd on the restructuring of its USD 325 million, 11% guaranteed senior secured notes due 2012. Currently acting for the Ad Hoc Committee in relation to a potential next round of restructuring of the Notes.

• Acting as local counsel for an informal steering committee of Noteholders in the Hyflux Group’s USD 2 billion restructuring exercise.

• Acting for an informal steering committee of holders of USD 150 million, 8.75% senior secured bonds due 2018 in relation to Miclyn Express Offshore Pte Ltd’s restructuring exercise.

• Acting as local counsel in relation to the global dissolution of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc’s subsidiaries and related entities worldwide.

• Advising and representing the liquidators of Power Solar System Co Ltd (in liquidation) in relation to its USD 263.9 million claims against Suntech Power Investment Pte Ltd, as part of a larger global restructuring.

• Part of the team advising the provisional liquidators of Mongolian Mining Corporation on a suite of debt-restructuring proposals, including the restructuring of secured notes by way of cross-border schemes of arrangement.

• Acting as local counsel for Gulf Pacific Shipping Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of STX Pan Ocean (Hong Kong) Co Ltd, on matters arising out of the larger STX Pan Ocean Group’s global cross-border debt restructuring exercise.

• Advising I.M. Skaugen SE on its application for moratorium orders under S211B Companies Act. This application was significant as it was the first to be brought by a foreign company. The ensuing reported judgment in Re IM Skaugen SE [2018] SGHC 259 currently stands as the leading decision in Singapore law on the extraterritorial effect of a worldwide moratorium and the statutory interpretation of S211B(4) Companies Act.

Languages Spoken

English, Malay, spoken Tamil

Publications

- Co-author of article “Cross-Border Restructuring and Insolvency between Singapore and Malaysia” [2024] SAL Prac 3

- Report on Bond Restructuring. Chairman of the Sub-Committee of the Law Reform Committee (SAL) that published this report.

- INSOL International Technical Paper: “Cost Assessment for Debt Collection Abroad in Singapore”, 2021

- Co-author of article “The impact of COVID-19 on restructuring in Singapore, Hong Kong and China from an investor perspective”, Turnaround Management Association, Journal of Corporate Recovery, July/August 2021

- Court-ordered Mediation in Restructuring Proceedings: The Next Reform? [2020] SAL Prac 14, 2020

- INSOL International Technical Project: “Glossary of Terms – Singapore”, 2020

- The Asia-Pacific Restructuring Review 2020, Global Restructuring Review (Law Business Research 2019): “Singapore: Transparency in the Court System”, 2019

- 2017 Insolvency and Corporate Reorganisation Report: Singapore, International Financial Law Review, April 2017

- “Singapore – the Eye of the Storm?”, The Quarterly Journal of INSOL International (INSOL World: 1st Quarter 2016), 2016

- Report of the Law Reform Committee on Litigation Funding in Insolvency Cases (The Law Reform Committee, Singapore Academy of Law), Feb. 2014

- The Law and Practice of Corporate Insolvency (LexisNexis, 2014): Substantive Consequences of Insolvency, 2014

- Foreign Insolvency Proceedings – A New Look at International Comity, Law Gazette (Law Society of Singapore), June 2012

- Halsbury’s Law of Singapore (Butterworths) 2011 edition: wrote chapter on Substantive Consequences of Insolvency

- Halsbury’s Law of Singapore (Butterworths) 2011 edition: Wrote Chapters on Schemes of Arrangement

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, HK, India

Personal

Ashok is actively involved in public service. Examples include:

• Adjunct Lecturer School of Accountancy, Singapore Management University

• Trustee at Sri Manmatha Karuneshvarar Temple (a Hindu Temple)

• Deputy Chairman of Tanah Merah Country Club Singapore

Clients

Ashok’s clients include Kirkland & Ellis, Sullvan & Cromwell, White & Case, Bain Capital, SC Lowy, Omni, Aries SSG, Arkkan Capital, AZB Partners, Carval Investors, Varde Partners, Qualgro Partners, Deutsche Bank, Korda Mentha, Alvarez & Marsal, Ernst & Young, PWC, KPMG, AJ Capital, Harneys.

Education

Awards