Carey Olsen Singapore LLP

Kate Lan

Kate is counsel in Carey Olsen's litigation, insolvency and restructuring practice in Singapore. Her main area of practice includes commercial and shareholders’ disputes, trust and estate disputes, and insolvency and restructuring matters. She is qualified to practise in Singapore, England & Wales, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands. Kate has extensive experience advising clients across a broad spectrum of cross-border litigation and international arbitration matters. She has been appointed as arbitrator by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and is a member of SIAC’s Reserve Panel of Arbitrators. She is also the first offshore lawyer to be invited to serve on the APAC regional committee of the Young Singapore International Arbitration Centre (YSIAC) Council. Kate has most recently been recognised by the Legal 500 Asia-Pacific as "the powerhouse of the Carey Olsen Singapore dispute resolution team". She has also been named in the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Offshore Client Choice List in 2023 as a result of participating in this award for the first time, with clients describing her as "sharp", "commercially savvy" and "highly responsive, with rock solid dependability and always ready to go the extra mile". In addition to her work as a disputes practitioner, Kate is part of the core team who is involved in putting together a textbook on "Commercial Litigation and Enforcement" which is published by The Global Legal Post. She is also a contributing author to two editions of Arbitration in Singapore: A Practical Guide (edited by The Honourable the Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon), and the first reference guide to investment protection in the ASEAN region – Investment Protection in Southeast Asia: A Country-by-Country Guide on Arbitration Laws and Bilateral Investment Treaties. Kate is fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese and conversant in basic Bahasa Indonesia and Japanese. She is also an active member of INSOL, IWIRC, YSIAC and Arbitral Women.

Amelia Tan

Amelia is counsel in Carey Olsen's litigation, insolvency and restructuring practice in Singapore. She has a broad range of experience in commercial litigation, with a focus on complex, multi-jurisdictional shareholder / director litigation, corporate disputes, fraud and asset tracing and cross-border insolvency and restructuring matters. Amelia also has significant experience in seeking urgent interlocutory relief for clients, including freezing orders and injunctions, and enforcement matters and has represented clients in the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Privy Council. She regularly advises listed companies and financial institutions, high net worth individuals and insolvency practitioners in the region. Amelia has been listed as a Rising Star in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2023 Guide. She has also been named one of the five global finalists (and only recipient in Asia) of the IWIRC Rising Star Award in 2022 and is part of the International Insolvency Institute's (III) highly prestigious and successful NextGen Leadership Program Class XII (2023). Clients speak highly of Amelia, describing her as an "outstanding individual within Carey Olsen" and who is "technically solid, business savvy and always responsive". Amelia has been involved in many of the leading decisions in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and has successfully acted for clients in complex factual and legal disputes involving novel issues of law. Recent experience include: Successfully acted for the Claimant in a four-week trial in relation to a derivative action brought on behalf of a Liberian company for a claim for breach of directors' duties, dishonest assistance and unjust enrichment: Kathryn Ma Wai Fong v Incredible Power Limited et al (BVIHCOM 2015/0047) (18 March 2021). Successfully acted for Malaysia's largest venture capital fund in the liquidation of an Exempted Limited Partnership ("ELP") where the General Partner had failed to discharge its duties as voluntary liquidators, and is the first Cayman law decision where the Cayman Grand Court clarified that voluntary liquidators of an ELP can be subject to court supervision and can be granted powers that are reserved for court-appointed liquidators: In the Matter of ECM Straits Fund I, LP (FSD 230 of 2022 (RPJ)). Advising and acting as Cayman Islands and BVI counsel for a leading crypto financial service provider in group restructuring involving entities in Singapore, Hong Kong, Cayman Islands and BVI. Successfully acted for a minority shareholder in the Court of Appeal in relation to the setting aside of service out of jurisdiction and the stay of unfair prejudice proceedings against majority shareholders where the claim against the company is stayed in favour of arbitration: Siong Beng Seng v Caldicott Worldwide Limited BVIHCMAP 2020/0020 (1 June 2021). Successfully acted for a minority shareholder in the Court of Appeal on the novel issue of whether an injunction granted under section 43 of the BVI Arbitration Act 2013 is appealable: Hector Finance Group Limited v Caldicott Worldwide Limited BVIHCVAP 2020/0012 (1 June 2021). Acting for and advising an ASX-listed resources company in relation to key assets in a BVI company and related winding-up and recognition proceedings in the BVI. Acting for majority shareholders in the just and equitable winding up of Cayman Islands company on the basis that there was a breakdown of trust and confidence in the management of the company. Acting as BVI advisers to receivers of substantial assets held by Agritrade Resources Limited, a subsidiary of Agritrade International Pte Ltd which has been placed into interim judicial management by the Singapore High Court with USD1.55 billion in outstanding liabilities and faces claims from dozens of creditors including allegations from major lenders of perpetrating a “massive, premeditated and systemic fraud”.

Tom Katsaros

Tom is principal - head of funds, Singapore specialising in the establishment, structuring and maintenance of offshore private equity funds and hedge funds. He is one of the only two partner-level offshore funds practitioners in Singapore to be admitted in the Cayman Islands. In addition to acting for large financial institutions and investment funds sponsors, boutique and start-up investment managers, Tom also advises on all aspects of corporate and commercial law, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and financing transactions. Tom is recognised as a Leading Individual in The Legal 500 Asia 2023 Guide and as a global leader in the 2022 and 2023 editions of Who's Who Legal: Private Funds.

Anthony McKenzie

Anthony is the managing partner of our Singapore office and the head of our corporate practice in Asia. He is also a founding partner of Carey Olsen's Asia offices and a non-resident partner of the Hong Kong office. Anthony is a specialist in Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Bermuda law and is one of only two partners in Singapore admitted to practise these three key offshore laws. He is also the only Cayman Islands and BVI admitted and Bermuda registered transactional partner in Singapore. Anthony has a broad range of experience in offshore corporate, investment funds and finance transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, secured and unsecured financing arrangements, preference share issues, IPOs and capital markets transactions. He regularly advises financial institutions, sponsors and borrowers on leveraged and acquisition finance, syndicated lending, structured finance, fund finance and secured and unsecured general corporate lending. He also has significant experience in advising clients on the structuring, formation and maintenance of regulated and unregulated investment funds in the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands. Other than being regarded a Leading Individual by The Legal 500, Anthony is ranked as a leading offshore lawyer by each of IFLR1000, Chambers Global and Chambers Asia-Pacific. He has also been consistently identified by China Business Law Journal (CBLJ) in its prestigious A-List as an elite lawyer with a China practice since 2020. In particular, he is the only offshore lawyer based in Singapore distinguished on the 2022 CBLJ A-list. Other than CBLJ, Anthony is also recognised in the Top 50 Offshore Lawyers 2022 by Asia Business Law Journal (ABLJ) as part of the publication's prestigious annual A-List series. In 2019, he was also recognised by Asian Legal Business in its Offshore Client Choice List for client service in Asia. Clients describe Anthony as "a clear market leader in the offshore space. Top notch service, deep commercial understanding, striking a great balance between legal precision and commercial wisdom." He is also noted for being "extremely approachable with a can-do attitude to providing the advice needed to get transactions over the line."

James Noble

Based in our Tier 1 ranked (Legal 500) Singapore office, James Noble leads the litigation, insolvency and restructuring practice in Asia and the largest, most diverse offshore litigation team in Singapore. James advises on Cayman, British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Bermuda law, and is the only Cayman and BVI admitted (and Bermuda registered) litigator in Singapore. A specialist in complex and high value shareholder litigation, asset recovery, cross-border enforcement and insolvency, James has over 20 years' experience working in a wide variety of commercial, trust and estate disputes and private wealth matters. He regularly acts in high profile and market leading cases, particularly in connection with listed companies, and has specialist expertise in appellate matters in both the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council. James is frequently recognised as one of the outstanding offshore litigators in Asia by market leading legal directories and publications. In particular, he is ranked consistently by Chambers Asia and is listed as a Leading Individual for the Offshore category in Singapore in The Legal 500 Asia 2023 Guide. He has also been named in the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Offshore Client Choice List and as one of the Top 15 Offshore Litigators in Asia in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In addition, James was recognised in the Top 50 Offshore Lawyers 2022 by Asia Business Law Journal (ABLJ) as part of the publication's prestigious annual A-List series. Earlier this year, James was named as an expert in asset recovery by Who's Who Legal in its Southeast Asia guide. James is an active contributor of thought leadership pieces, and is most recently a co-author of a textbook published by The Global Legal Post on "Commercial Litigation and Enforcement". Clients describe James as "an outstanding team leader, able to integrate a high-level awareness of his clients’ commercial objectives with an uncanny oversight of what the most junior associate, or busiest London silk, is doing to deliver the results needed for a positive outcome. Always calm in a tough and highly competitive environment." He is also noted as "a great lawyer, with a very sensible approach to litigation matters" and "whom clients respond really well to". James is a registered foreign lawyer with the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC). He is a member of the Main Organising Committee of INSOL and is an active contributor to the International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC). He is also one of the first offshore law practitioners to be approved as a member of the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Singapore (IPAS).

Helen Wang

Helen TEP is a partner in our litigation, insolvency and restructuring practice in Singapore. She specialises in complex commercial litigation, shareholder disputes, estate and private clients related disputes, fraud and investigatory cases and insolvency and restructuring matters. She is a native speaker of Cantonese and Mandarin and fluent in English. Helen has extensive experiences advising clients on cross-border litigation and handling high value disputes, covering a broad range of sectors, including banking and financial services, energy and resources, insurance and high net-worth individuals. Helen has been listed as a Rising Star in The Legal 500 Asia 2023 Guide. She has also been named in the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Offshore Client Choice List, Top 10 Offshore Litigators and Asia 40 under 40 List for 2023. Clients have praised Helen for being "extremely personable, super responsive and hard working" and for her "excellent legal knowledge and commercial sense." As an active supporter of advancing women's interest in the legal community, Helen is a committee member on the IWIRC Diversity Inclusion and Belonging Committee and International Programming Committee. She is also the Asia lead of Carey Olsen's Women's Network which aims to facilitate meaningful collaboration and support amongst women across the firm and provide a framework to help women at Carey Olsen build on their talents and achieve their potential.  Helen is also a full TEP member of The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). Representative matters: Acting for a Cayman Islands Listco with a market cap in excess of USD1 billion in a long-drawn shareholder dispute. Acting for shareholders of the Cayman holdco of a multimillion dollar renewable energy business in a contentious just and equitable winding up petition in the Cayman Islands Courts. Acting for a number of limited partners of a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership in an action before the Cayman Islands Courts for a winding up of the partnership on the just and equitable ground. Acting for a minority shareholder in a power plant business in winding up proceedings in the courts of the BVI, which involve multiple proceedings across different jurisdictions and consideration of the principles applied by the BVI Court when dealing with an application for a stay of a winding up application on the just and equitable ground pending arbitration proceedings. Acting for a number of major creditors in the liquidation of a major cryptocurrency hedge fund. Acting for a major cryptocurrency lender in its restructuring.