Alvin is a Partner in the firm’s Insurance & Reinsurance Practice.
Alvin primarily practices in the field of insurance and reinsurance. He has been instructed on a wide range of disputes, including matters involving insurance coverage, construction defects, and professional negligence. He also regularly advises on insurance corporate and regulatory issues, such as schemes of transfer of insurance businesses, licensing of insurance companies and brokers, and issuances of catastrophe bonds.
Alvin was a member of the Singapore Academy of Law’s Subcommittee on Insurance Reform. The Subcommittee reviewed the insurance law of leading foreign jurisdictions and submitted its recommendations in the Report on Reforming Insurance Law in Singapore published in February 2020.
EXPERIENCE
Commercial Litigation
- Acted for a government-owned electricity and gas distribution company in a claim in the Singapore High Court concerning damage to a subsea electricity distribution infrastructure caused by a foreign vessel docked in Singapore.
- Acting for a statutory board and its main contractor in a Singapore High Court claim against a contractor in an adjoining construction site for damage caused to underground telecommunications infrastructure.
- Acting for a group of life insurers on coverage under multiple life policies arising from the policyholder’s misrepresentation and non-disclosure.
- Acted for a property developer for claims in the Singapore High Court against various construction contractors and consultants arising from the defective external facade of a Grade A office building in Singapore.
Arbitration
- Acted for a supply chain financier headquartered in London in an SIAC arbitration against a general insurer who denied coverage under a credit insurance policy.
- Acted for a provider of engineering, procurement, construction and installation services in the renewable energy power infrastructure sector in an ad hoc arbitration claim against a manufacturer and distributor of food products based in the Philippines.
- Acted for a waste management company in an SIAC arbitration claim against its customer for providing prohibited waste chemicals for treatment and disposal which caused a major explosion in an industrial estate in Singapore.
Advisory & Regulatory Matters
- Advising a telecommunications service provider on coverage under a liability policy concerning a contractual dispute in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
- Advising a food manufacturing group of companies on coverage under property damage and consequential loss insurance policies arising from floods which occurred in Malaysia in 2021.
- Advised CAR insurers on coverage for damage caused to private properties in the vicinity of construction sites in a flood-control project in Ho Chi Minh City.
- Advised a general insurer on coverage under a property insurance policy for a fire incident at a market warehouse in Myanmar.
- Advising a technical facility management company on a claim by a semiconductor manufacturing company arising from a fire incident at a semiconductor manufacturing plant.
- Advised on issuances of catastrophe bonds via special purpose reinsurance vehicles in Singapore.
- Acted for the Singapore branch of a Swiss life insurance company in a scheme of transfer of insurance business. Submissions were made to the Singapore High Court on policyholders’ objections during the scheme confirmation hearing.
- Assisted with the registration and licensing of a healthcare reinsurance broker and its related reinsurance company in Singapore.
PUBLICATIONS
- Contributor, Report of Reforming Insurance Law in Singapore, Singapore Academy of Law (February 2020)
