Singapore's COVID-19 Bill Explained

The Ministry of Law has announced that the new COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill will be introduced in Parliament this week and is anticipated to be passed into law shortly after. Amongst other things, the Bill will:

• spell out targeted temporary reliefs from legal actions for non-performance of obligations under certain specified contracts due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;
• temporarily increase the existing bankruptcy and insolvency thresholds for individuals and businesses respectively, as well as provide more time to respond to statutory demands from creditors;
• provide temporary measures for the conduct of AGMs and meetings requiring personal attendance in a manner that complies with existing safe distancing measures.

As a SwedCham member, you are invited to join a series of industry-focused webinars, starting today, organised by law firm Rajah & Tann​ to take their clients through the reliefs and measures and their practical applications on their businesses.

In the webinars, Rajah & Tann will, amongst other things:

• elaborate on the contracts covered by the Bill (such as secured loans from a bank or finance company, certain hire purchase agreements, construction or supply contracts, contracts for the provision of goods and services for events);
• discuss the 6-month moratorium relief provided for in the Bill; and
• spell out the temporary amendments to existing insolvency legislation.

The webinars will be held at the following times:

Tuesday 7 April 2020; 3pm – 4:15pm

Banks/Financial Institutions

Wednesday 8 April 2020; 10am – 11am

Construction

Wednesday 8 April 2020; 3pm – 4:15pm

Accounting

Thursday 9 April 2020; 10am – 11:15am

Listed Issuers

Monday 13 April 2020; 3pm – 4:15pm

Remaining clients / Relevant industries (including Shipping)

Tuesday 14 April 2020; 3pm – 4:00pm

Real estate - (Recently Added!)

NB: Webinars open for SwedCham Members only.

For more information on how to join, please contact info@swedcham.sg

Rajah & Tann Singapore is a leading full service law firm in Singapore and one of the largest in South East Asia. The firm has been at the leading edge of law in Asia, having worked on many of the biggest and highest profile cases in the region. They have a vast pool of talented and well regarded lawyers dedicated to delivering the very highest standards of service across all the firm's practice areas.

As a member firm of Rajah & Tann Asia, the network has over 800 fee earners including Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam. The firm's geographical reach includes Singapore-based regional desks focusing on Brunei, Japan and South Asia. Further, as the Singapore member firm of the Lex Mundi Network, clients have access to excellent legal support in more than 100 countries globally.