http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ahCVZh1pBhKo
Singapore to Make Billions Handling
Cross-Border Arbitrations
Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- When Matthew Gearing represents Deutsche
Bank AG in its oil hedging dispute against Sri Lanka’s government,
some 20 lawyers, arbitrators and witnesses from the U.K., Belgium,
New Zealand and Pakistan will be enlisted, too.
“When there’s an international case in Singapore like this, you
attract a cast from all over the world,” said Gearing, a Hong
Kong-based partner at Allen & Overy LLP.
That sort of influx could produce
a “multibillion-dollar industry” for Singapore as cross-border
disputes increase in the region, Law Minister K. Shanmugam
said. To spur growth, the city-state has opened
its legal market to foreign firms, offered tax incentives and
developed a complex with 14 hearing rooms.
That’s a direct challenge to nearby Hong Kong, host of six times as
many arbitration cases last year. Given a projected spike in
arbitration, there may be enough new business for both cities to
enjoy a rise in dispute revenue.
“There’s a very, very serious need for arbitration in this region,”
Shanmugam said, citing the abundance of foreign investments in a
region with less-developed institutions.
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