Rajah & Tann Asia

Deputy Head, Restructuring & Insolvency

Beng Chye has been in practice for more than two decades and is currently the Deputy Head of the Restructuring & Insolvency Practice (“R&I”) at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP. He was admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2000.

Specialising in bankruptcy and corporate insolvency, as well as debt restructuring, judicial management and schemes of arrangement, Beng Chye is recognised as a market leader for his expertise in these areas by global legal directories, including:

Leading Individual – The Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2023 & 2024) Highly Regarded – IFLR1000 (2022 & 2024) Litigation Star (Insolvency) – Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific (2019 – 2024) The Best Lawyers in Singapore (2018 – 2025) Band 4 – Chambers Asia Pacific (2024) Impact Cases of the Year – H&CS Holdings Pte Ltd, First-ever recognition of a Singapore moratorium law in landmark ruling by High Court of England and Wales – Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific Awards (2021) Impact Cases of the Year – Hanjin Shipping case –Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific Awards (2019) Nominated as one of the Most Significant Cross Border Recognition Decision – H&CS Holdings Pte Ltd, recognition of a Singapore moratorium by the UK Courts – Global Restructuring Review (2019)

He is described as “a great leader and the best to work with. He is constantly exceeding expectations not only in works related to the restructuring process, but also being truly compassionate to clients.”

The team is highly regarded in the R&I field, earning its recognition as:

The top Asian law firm to be ranked among the top 30 Restructuring and Insolvency Practices in the World – Global Restructuring Review (2018 – 2023) Top Singapore Law Firm – Insolvency & Restructuring Law – The Straits Times: Singapore’s Best Law Firms (2021 – 2024)

Beng Chye has been actively involved in almost every major restructuring / insolvency matter in Singapore and is often the first port of call for the banking and financial institutions. His notable cases includes Hyflux/ Tuaspring, Agritrade, Triyards, Swiber, Nam Cheong, Hanjin, OW Bunker, Pars Ram Brothers, KrisEnergy, Mercator Lines, Hoe Leong Corporation Ltd, Panoil Petroleum, Universal Energy, and Otto Marine Ltd. He represented PricewaterhouseCoopers as the Receivers and Managers of Treasure Resort Pte Ltd (Receivers and Managers Appointed) (In Liquidation) in the sale of the hotel at Le Meridien Singapore Sentosa.

He was part of the R&I team who had advised China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (“CAO”) in one of Singapore’s largest successful corporate debt restructuring exercises, involving a China state- owned enterprise and over US$550 million. CAO received resounding support (over 90% in value and in number) for its debt restructuring plan from its creditors, and the Scheme of Arrangement was sanctioned by the High Court of Singapore in June 2006.

In addition to debt restructuring, Beng Chye advises on liquidation (voluntary and compulsory) and judicial management. He was part of the team that advised the liquidators of Lehman Brothers Singapore. He had advised the Judicial Managers and later successfully applied to the High Court for the appointment of Liquidators for Wan Soon Construction Pte Ltd, a large construction company in Singapore which was previously graded by the Building Construction Authority as A1 Unlimited for General Building and Civil Engineering.

He acts in a broad range of commercial disputes and is regularly instructed by banks and leading financial institutions. He successfully represented Sunmax Global Capital Fund 1 and its director to recover more than $16 million in damages arising from the Asiasons and Liongold shares, which were involved in the 2013 penny stocks collapse – Neptune Capital Group Ltd and others v Sunmax Global Capital Fund 1 Pte Ltd [2016] 4 SLR 1177.

Beng Chye specialises in hire purchase and auto-finance industry, and he has handled block discounting, floor stock and hire purchase financing for major banks and financial institutions.

He was formerly the Legal Advisor for the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association and had represented them when the financing curbs were imposed by Monetary Authority of Singapore in February 2013.

He is the currently the appointed Legal Advisor for the following associations:

Hire Purchase Finance & Leasing Association of Singapore Automobile Importer & Exporter Association (Singapore) Singapore Ji Yang Cai Clan Association Chai Chee United Temple (Hock San Teng Temple)