On 25 February 2016, SIAC released its 2015 case statistics, revealing its record growth and the increasing use of Singapore law as the governing law of choice.

Key takeaways

• Record growth:
  • Highest number of cases filed: 271 (22% increase from 2014 and over 300% increase over the last 10 years)
  • Highest number of administered cases: 244
  • Highest total sum in dispute: S$ 6.23 billion (24% increase from 2014)

• Increasing international reach:
  • 271 new cases involving parties from 55 jurisdictions
  • 84% of the new cases were international in nature (i.e. where one or both parties were not Singaporean) compared to 81% in 2014
  • 42% of the new cases had no connection with Singapore
  • Top 5 foreign users were India, China, South Korea, USA and Australia in that order (India overtook China and the USA to be the biggest contributor to new SIAC cases in 2015)

• Continued domestic relevance:
  • Singaporean parties continued to be the largest contributor of new cases
  • One-third of these cases involved companies that are the Singapore subsidiaries of international companies

• More contracts with choice of law clauses:
  • In 95% of new cases filed, parties had included a choice of law clause in the underlying contract (5% increase from 2014)
  • Only 5% of new cases did not have a specified choice of law (compared to 10% in 2014)

• Singapore law is the governing law of choice:
  • Singapore law continues to be the most popular choice of governing law followed by English law
  • Increase in Singapore law as the governing law of choice (10% rise from 2014)
  • Decline in English law as the governing law of choice (4% decline from 2014)

Revised Model Clause

In an effort to provide greater convenience, flexibility and certainty to contracting parties, SIAC harmonised its previous Model Clauses and released a revised Model Clause on 1 September 2015. SIAC’s Expedited Procedure Model Clause has been similarly updated.

Future growth

In January 2016, SIAC announced the launch of a representative office in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Together with its existing overseas offices in Mumbai and Seoul, the SIAC continues to position itself for wider growth in significant Asian markets.