Nawaz Kamil
Director
Nawaz is a Director and the Head of the Restructuring & Insolvency practice group in the firm.
Nawaz is rated by Chambers and Legal 500 as a leading R&I lawyer in Singapore. Nawaz’s fellow professionals and clients have described him as “incredibly user-friendly” and a “hands-on partner” who “provides sound and commercial legal advice in complex restructuring and insolvency matters”.
Nawaz advises and acts for all stakeholder groups involved in cross-border stressed/distressed and contentious situations. He regularly acts for insolvency practitioners such as liquidators, judicial managers, receivers and restructuring advisors in various litigation, asset recovery and arbitration matters. His diverse R&I practice is grounded in his commercial litigation experience from one of Singapore’s premier litigation firms. Nawaz has also advised and acted for leading insolvency professionals from eminent firms such as E&Y, PWC, Deloitte, Grant Thornton, Quantuma, Alvarez & Marsal and Kroll.
Nawaz also regularly assists elite international firms as instructed Singapore counsel in R&I and litigation briefs; Nawaz and the firm’s R&I team work closely with leading R&I lawyers globally on these matters. Nawaz’s briefs include advising financial institutions, funds or asset managers in various creditor protection measures and solutions.
As an independent and conflict-free practice, the firm acts for businesses, companies and founder/owners in distressed or litigious situations. The R&I team has guided leading businesses and their management team as Singapore court counsel in multi-jurisdiction Court restructurings, judicial managements or consensual and commercial solutions.
Nawaz is fluent in English and conversational in Malay and Bahasa Indonesia.
Admissions
- Advocate and Solicitor, Supreme Court of Singapore
Professional Experience
- Acting for and advising the joint and several liquidators of Hin Leong Trading (Pte) Ltd in one of the largest and most complex liquidations in Singapore. Prior to its winding up, Hin Leong Trading was one of Asia’s largest oil traders. The ongoing liquidation has a debt profile in excess of US$4 billion. These claims from major banking institutions are ongoing and involve complex, multi-party litigation and mediation with many of Singapore’s leading lawyers and insolvency professionals (eminent firms such as PWC, Ernst & Young Solutions LLP and Grant Thornton LLP) assisting.
- Acting for PDV Marina, one of the state-owned national oil companies of Venezuela in successfully resisting claims of over US$1.8 billion. These claims arise from various ICC and ICSID arbitration awards secured by international MNCs against the Venezuelan Republic and PDV SA and these claimants are attempted to make PDV Marina liable for the liabilities of the Republic / PDV SA on the private international law principle that PDV Marina is merely an alter ego or extension of the state.
- Acting for and advising BlackRock and Ares SSG (who act through their security agent, Madison Pacific Trust Limited) in respect of a US$50 million loan facility given to Take Solutions Singapore (a majority shareholder of the Indian List Co, Take Solutions India). Providence Law is advising on various cross-border restructuring aspects and acted for the lenders in an application to place Take Solutions Singapore into judicial management.
- Acting for a Cayman Island venture capitalist fund in the recovery of various outstanding amounts arising from syndicated loan transactions totalling over US$50 million, which involved the enforcement of a share charge, obtaining summary judgments against the corporate and personal guarantors, resisting SIAC proceedings by the debtor, resisting certain reliefs sought by the debtor during a UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency recognition application. This case was reported in Re Rooftop Group International Ltd and another (Triumphant Gold Ltd and another, non-parties) [2019] SGHC 280. The decision may be accessed at <https://www.elitigation.sg/gdviewer/s/2019_SGHC_280>.
- Acted for Agritrade Resources Limited, an entity listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, in various recovery actions in Singapore, India and Hong Kong, as well as in a global debt restructuring exercise of over S$450 million across the courts in Bermuda, Hong Kong and Singapore. This restructuring is related to the widely publicised collapse of the Agritrade group in Singapore which led to the issuance of a related Court of Appeal decision in Rothstar Group Ltd v Leow Quek Shiong and other appeals [2022] SGCA 25. The decision may be accessed at <https://www.elitigation.sg/gd/s/2022_SGCA_25>.
- Acting for and advised the BVI liquidators of Six Capital Investments Limited in various recovery actions with respect to a debt of over US$143 million and in seeking and obtaining recognition of the BVI winding up proceedings in Singapore under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency.
- Acting for and advising The Working Capitol Group, a group well-known in the property management industry in Singapore, in a debt restructuring exercise involving the evolving co-working space industry in Singapore. This restructuring further features a novel debt consolidation exercise of the Group’s debts amounting to approximately S$48 million and a pre-packed scheme proposed under Section 71 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018. Providence Law works together with insolvency professionals from Quantuma on this matter.
- Acting for a major Chinese bank in a high profile cross-border liquidation of a Singapore mainboard-listed company with over S$297 million in debts.
- Acted for an Indonesian businessman in the restructuring of his personal debts amounting to approximately US$240 million through a voluntary arrangement proposed pursuant to the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018.
- Successfully defended a Singapore S$16 million claim in the High Court brought by the liquidator in relation to alleged breaches of directors’ duties owed by the individuals to the company.
- Acted for a major shareholder of Super Park Asia Group Pte Ltd in contentious provisional liquidation proceedings. The dispute was eventually heard by the Singapore Court of Appeal which issued a judgment Superpark Oy v Super Park Asia Group Pte Ltd & Ors [2021] SGCA 8. The decision may be accessed at <https://www.elitigation.sg/gd/s/2021_SGCA_8>.
- Acting for the Liquidators (from Ernst & Young Solutions LLP) of Griffin Real Estate Investment Holdings Pte Ltd in the recovery of an estimated S$35 million from the former directors of the company and in other recovery actions against third parties amounting to more than S$30 million.
- Acted for the Receivers and Managers (from Ernst & Young Solutions LLP) of Airtrust (Singapore) Pte Ltd, an oil and gas pipe trading company, in a shareholders’ dispute and in a claim by the company against, inter alia, former directors for breaches of fiduciary duties and conspiracy against the company. Also advised the said Receivers and Managers in the performance of their duties as Court-Appointed Receivers and Managers. This matter eventually culminated in various related decisions including Lee Pei-Ru Alice and another v Airtrust (Singapore) Pte Ltd [2013] SGHC 259.This decision may be accessed at <https://www.elitigation.sg/gd/s/2013_SGHC_259>.
- Acted for the Receivers and Managers (from Ernst & Young Solutions LLP) of a subsidiary of a listed company which was the developer and owner of a high-tech data centre in Singapore. Successfully concluded a sale of the data centre in satisfaction of the subsidiary’s debts and was involved in the drafting of the sale agreement and completion of the sale process.