Mediation

The Singapore International Mediation Centre and the Singapore Convention

The Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) was established in 2014 and offers mediation under its own rules, often in combination with SIAC arbitration through the Arb-Med-Arb protocol. Under that protocol the arbitration is commenced, stayed for mediation and resumed if mediation fails, with any settlement recorded as a consent award enforceable under the New York Convention. The Singapore Convention on Mediation, signed in Singapore on 7 August 2019 and in force since 12 September 2020, provides a treaty framework for the direct enforcement of international mediated settlement agreements. Singapore gave it domestic effect through the Singapore Convention on Mediation Act 2020, under which a party may apply to the High Court to record a qualifying settlement agreement as an order of court, subject to refusal grounds mirroring the Convention.¹

Switzerland had not, as at 30 June 2026, signed the Singapore Convention. A mediated settlement between a Swiss and a Singapore party is therefore enforceable in Singapore under the Act if the agreement is international and results from mediation. In Switzerland it is enforceable only as a contract or, if recorded as a consent award or a court settlement, under the New York Convention or the ordinary recognition rules. The Arb-Med-Arb route solves the problem, because the consent award is a New York Convention award on both sides.²

Mediation in platform insolvencies

Mediation played a part in the platform insolvencies of 2022–2023, where creditors' committees and platforms used mediators to agree the terms of schemes. The Singapore courts encourage mediation at every stage and may order the parties to attend.³ For token disputes the mediator's value lies in the ability to construct settlements that courts and tribunals cannot order. Examples are distribution of tokens in kind over time, conversion of claims into tokens of a successor project, lock-ups with release schedules and the allocation of recoveries from third-party litigation. The Zipmex and Vauld schemes contained elements of this kind that had been negotiated with mediator assistance.

Notes

Singapore Convention on Mediation Act 2020, ss 3–9, Singapore Statutes Online (consulted June 2026): application to international settlement agreements, recording as an order of court, grounds for refusal and setting aside. ↩
United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (Singapore Convention on Mediation), status table maintained by UNCITRAL; Switzerland listed as non-signatory. ↩
Rules of Court 2021, O 5 (amicable resolution of cases), Singapore Statutes Online; Singapore International Mediation Centre, SIAC–SIMC Arb-Med-Arb Protocol (2014). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Of Counsel, KGP Legal LLC

I am Of Counsel with KGP Legal LLC in Singapore, where I work with a global client base of successful entrepreneurs and their families, independent asset managers, commodity trading houses and other commercial clients. I am a German and Swiss attorney-at-law, also admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and in Hong Kong. I divide my time between Zug in Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong. Since 2017 I have advised international clients on more than 700 crypto and digital asset projects. I also have extensive experience in cross-border litigation and arbitration in Singapore, Hong Kong and other markets in South-East Asia and Greater China.

I operate across the key financial centres in South-East Asia, the Middle East and Switzerland, with a particular focus on asset protection, international tax and estate planning, as well as trusts, company administration and other fiduciary services. My philosophy is to serve as a trusted advisor working closely with my clients and to help them achieve their commercial objectives.

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SingaporeIQ is edited by Dr Alexander Ressos, an international business lawyer with more than 15 years of local experience in Singapore as a permanent resident, a Singapore registered foreign lawyer and managing partner of a Singapore foreign law practice. In addition to significant experience in cross-border investments and transactions, UHNWI private client work and sanctions/export controls, Dr Ressos has extensive experience in cross-border business and in crypto and digital-asset projects in Singapore, drawn from more than 700 projects since 2017.

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