This webinar takes place from 3pm to 4:15pm (Singapore time) on Wednesday, 3 March 2021.

Members of the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) who want to take advantage of their SAL credit dollars can sign up at https://www.sal-e.org.sg/insolvency-for-micro-and-small-businesses-global-and-regional-perspectives. Do note SAL's system is unable to cater to promo codes if you hold any.

Overview

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) represent the vast majority of businesses in most countries. Despite their economic relevance, most jurisdictions do not provide an attractive insolvency framework for MSMEs. With COVID-19 hitting MSMEs the hardest, many countries are accelerating the process of implementing an efficient insolvency framework for these businesses.

Organised by the Asian Business Law Institute and the Singapore Global Restructuring Initiative, this webinar will provide an overview of the insolvency reforms for MSMEs happening in various countries globally, including Australia, Myanmar and Singapore. It will also analyse the primary policy recommendations suggested by the World Bank and UNCITRAL, as well as the role of lawyers, mediators, financial advisors and insolvency practitioners in the resolution of a situation of financial distress of MSMEs. Specifically,

• International initiatives for the treatment of MSMEs in insolvency, emphasising on the projects conducted by UNCITRAL and the World Bank

• New simplified insolvency and restructuring procedures for MSMEs in Australia and Singapore

• Insolvency framework for MSMEs in emerging economies: lessons from Myanmar

• Role and challenges of workouts in the context of MSMEs

• COVID-19 on MSMEs: Impact, challenges and strategies for the resolution of financial distress in MSMEs

• Insolvency and MSMEs: The role of lawyers, mediators, insolvency practitioners and financial advisors

When is this webinar scheduled?

This webinar will take place from 3pm to 4:15pm (Singapore time) on Wednesday, 3 March 2021.

Please be mindful of the time difference if you are joining from outside of Singapore.

Who will be speaking at this webinar (in alphabetical order)?

Scott Atkins (Sydney, Australia)

Chair, Australia; Head of Risk Advisory, Australia; Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright Australia

Scott Atkins is Australian chair of Norton Rose Fulbright and head of its risk advisory practice, with more than 25 years of industry experience. He is a leading lawyer in one of the most reputable insolvency and restructuring practices in the Asia-Pacific region, having been recognised as Australia's only Eminent Practitioner for this category in the Chambers and Partners 2020 regional legal rankings.

Scott is also vice-president and an inaugural fellow of INSOL International, and serves as president of the Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association (ARITA).

Recently, Scott led a team over a three-year period, working with the Asian Development Bank and the Union Supreme Court of Myanmar, to draft a new insolvency and restructuring framework for Myanmar, culminating in the passage of Myanmar's Insolvency Law in February 2020. The tailored insolvency measures for SMEs developed as part of this work are also currently helping to shape the law reform and post-COVID 19 economic recovery process for developing and developed nations alike across the world, including in Australia.

Aurelio Gurrea-Martínez (Singapore)

Assistant Professor of Law, Singapore Management University

Aurelio Gurrea-Martínez is an Assistant Professor of Law at Singapore Management University, where he teaches company law, financial and securities regulation, corporate governance, and comparative and international insolvency law. He is also head of the Singapore Global Restructuring Initiative and co-chair of the SMU-3CL Cambridge Roundtable on Corporate Insolvency.

Before joining SMU, he was a Fellow of the Program on Corporate Governance and a Fellow of the Program on International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School. He has taught, studied or conducted research at several institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Asia and Latin America, including the University of Oxford, Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School, Yale Law School and Stanford University.

His research interest lies in the intersection of law and finance, with particular emphasis on corporate governance, capital markets, financial regulation and corporate insolvency law, and how legal and institutional reforms may promote entrepreneurship, innovation, access to finance, and economic growth.

Smitha Menon (Singapore)

Partner, WongPartnership

Smitha Menon is the Deputy Head of the Restructuring & Insolvency Practice of WongPartnership and a Partner in its International Arbitration and Special Situations Advisory Practices. Her main areas of practice are corporate disputes and restructuring.

Among her many international and local appointments, Smitha is a Fellow of the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Singapore, on the board of the Singapore network of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation and on the Insolvency Practice Committee of the Law Society. She is also a court member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration.

Smitha has acted for and/or advised several restructuring and insolvency matters of significance. Ongoing mandates include acting for the judicial managers of Xihe Holdings, the rescue financing bank in the restructuring of the Design Studio Group and Wirecard Asia Holdings Pte Ltd and Wirecard Singapore Pte Ltd on the fallout from Wirecard AG’s insolvency. She previously acted for Hyflux Ltd in its US$2.3 billion debt restructuring, EMAS Chiyoda Subsea Limited on its cross-border restructuring of debt in excess of S$1 billion, the MEO Group on its financial restructuring of liabilities in excess of S$500 million and the ad hoc committee of holders of notes issued by Noble Group Limited on the US$3.5 billion financial restructuring of the Noble Group.

Is this webinar accredited for continuing professional development (CPD) points for Singapore-admitted lawyers?

This webinar has been accredited for 1 public CPD point. Attendees who wish to claim CPD points are reminded to provide their AAS numbers or other number issued by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE) during registration. You are required to strictly follow the attendance policy of SILE before CPD points can be awarded. Please refer to www.sileCPDcentre.sg for more information.

I am a member of the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL), and would like to use my SAL credit dollars to sign for the webinar. How do I do so?

SAL members who want to take advantage of their SAL credit dollars can sign up at https://www.sal-e.org.sg/insolvency-for-micro-and-small-businesses-global-and-regional-perspectives. Do note that if you sign up there, you will receive an invoice generated by SAL. SAL is a GST-registered organisation. ABLI does not charge GST and will absorb GST on its own for registrations via SAL.

If you are from any of ABLI's Founding Partners and would like to enjoy the discount to which you are entitled, you will need to sign up on Eventbrite as SAL's system does not cater specifically to such arrangements.

This is the same case if you have received any special promo code directly from ABLI or the co-organiser.

How do I register for this webinar?

To register for this webinar:

Step 1: Purchase a ticket here on Eventbrite, and make sure you enter the correct email address to receive the webinar registration link that will be sent to you separately;

Step 2: Once ABLI is notified of your ticket purchase, we will email you a separate link for you to sign up for the Zoom webinar in advance. This is mandatory as the webinar link sent to you is unique and manual approval of your webinar registration ensures that your attendance can be recorded at the back-end for CPD purposes.

Step 3: After your sign-up is approved by the organiser, simply follow the instructions indicated in the approval email to attend the webinar on 3 March 2021. Please be punctual as the system captures your log-in time, which is especially relevant if you are claiming for CPD points.

Please be mindful of the time difference if you are joining from outside of Singapore.

What if I am unable to attend this webinar after registration? Are the fees paid refundable?

Unfortunately, the payments made are not refundable. If you are unable to attend the webinar, we request that you let us know as soon as possible so that we can let you transfer your slot to your colleague.

I am interested in this webinar but unable to make it for the live session. If I register, will a recording be made available to me?

Yes, a recording of the webinar can be made available upon request via a private link, though it is important to bear in mind that viewing the recording will not entitle you to CPD points.

Are the fees payable inclusive of GST?

No. ABLI is not GST-registered, and therefore does not charge GST.

Eventbrite sends me an order confirmation after registration, but I need a formal invoice so as to submit a webinar fee claim to my employer. How do I go about doing that?

Please write to catherine_shen@abli.asia. ABLI can issue a formal e-invoice to you for expense claim purposes upon receiving your request.

Who can I contact if I have more questions?

Please write to catherine_shen@abli.asia for any query you may have about this webinar.