Emmanuel Chua

Emmanuel focusses his practice on commercial and financial dispute resolution, with specific expertise in distress situations where he leads and manages enforcement and recovery litigation efforts, restructurings (including judicial management / administration) and formal insolvencies.

Emmanuel has acted in some of the most prominent Asian-focused restructurings and situations in recent years, including in the first insolvency related decision of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC), and on the first matter involving court-to-court cooperation between the US Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern District of New York and the Singapore Courts. He also has significant experience navigating established overseas insolvency processes, including under Chapter 11 and 15 of the US Bankruptcy Code and the English Insolvency Act.

Emmanuel maintains a strong focus in international arbitration, regularly appearing as lead counsel in arbitrations under a range of institutional rules (including the ICC, SIAC, LCIA) and in ad hoc arbitrations. He has also sat as arbitrator (sole and on a three-member panel) in a number of international arbitration proceedings.

Leveraging this experience, Emmanuel regularly advises on pre-dispute risk avoidance and mitigation strategies, including contingency planning, group structuring and strategic advice, often from a cross-jurisdictional perspective.

Restructuring and Insolvency

• Represented PT Garuda Indonesia in ongoing efforts to secure recognition in various overseas jurisdictions of its Indonesian PKPU proceedings. In Singapore, this culminated in the landmark decision of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) in Re PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk [2024] SGHC(I) 1.
• Represented PT Pan Brothers Tbk in the landmark USD 400 million restructuring of its syndicated, bilateral and bond debts in Singapore.  This was the first known occasion of an Indonesian court declining to order a PKPU in recognition of an overseas restructuring proceeding. 
• Represented one of the largest energy companies in Thailand in placing a debtor under judicial management in Singapore, notwithstanding arguments that the underlying debt ought to first be referred to arbitration. Reported in Gulf Int’l Holding Pte Ltd v. Delta Offshore Energy Pte Ltd [2023] SGHC 151.
• Represented PT Pertamina Persero in the high profile winding up of its trading arm, PETRAL, in Singapore and Hong Kong.
• Represented an ad-hoc committee in the USD 390 million debt restructuring of the PT Modernland Realty group in Singapore. 
• Represented a North Asian bank on its exposure under a USD 450 million syndicated facility in relation to the restructuring of PT Royal Industries by way of an Indonesian PKPU proceeding.
• Represented Thai Airways in Singapore recognition proceedings of its Thai restructuring efforts in a number of key jurisdictions, and in resisting applications by creditors and trade unions to vary the terms of the moratoria in place.

International Arbitration and Litigation

• Representing a consortium of financial institutions as Claimant in ongoing SIAC proceedings against a Vietnamese real estate developer and various guarantor and subsidiary entities, in respect of a breach of a USD 250 million Facility Agreement.
• Representing Universal Terminal (S) Pte. Ltd. and UT Singapore Services Pte. Ltd. in relation to the highly complex and high-profile proceedings relating to the Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd bankruptcy - one of the largest workouts currently ongoing in Singapore and the region, valued at over USD 3.6 billion.  
• Represented a Philippines conglomerate in a high value SIAC arbitration in a JV dispute relating to a national tollways projects in the Philippines. 
• Representing a US-listed pharmaceutical company in a high value ICC arbitration (valued at over USD 500 million) relating to the development and commercialization of a new drug under a master research and licensing agreement. 
• Represented a foreign public listed company in a Malaysia seated arbitration (valued at over USD 2 billion) against a Malaysian state government for breach of a development agreement. 
• Represented the administrator of an estate in a complex series of litigation involving family arrangements and oral trust, involving trust assets in excess of SGD 60 million (Khoh Chen Yeh Shane v Seng Realty & Development and anor [2012] SGHC 79).

• Lexology Client Choice Award (Restructuring and Insolvency) 2024
• Legal 500, Leading Partner (Restructuring and Insolvency: Foreign Firms)
• Global Restructuring Review, 40 under 40 (recognising 40 of the world's leading restructuring specialists, aged 40 and under), 2022
• Asian Legal Business, Asia Super 50 Disputes Lawyers, 2021 and 2022
• Asian Legal Business, Asia’s top 40 Lawyers under the age of 40, 2022 
• Benchmark Litigation (Future Star)

• Fellow, Insolvency Practitioners Association of Singapore (IPAS)
• Member, INSOL 
• Member, Turnaround Management Association (TMA)
• Panel Arbitrator, Singapore International Arbitration Centre (reserve), Asian International Arbitration Centre
• Trainer, Trial Advocacy and Insolvency modules, Singapore Institute of Legal Education (for the Singapore Bar Examinations) Education and admission