Summary
Rebecca is dual qualified – a Barrister called to the English and Welsh Bar by Gray’s Inn, and an Advocate & Solicitor of Malaysia. She is a highly experienced international arbitrator and arbitration counsel and she is also an accredited Certified Sanctions Specialist with technical and legal expertise in complex sanctions matters particularly related to the sanctions by the USA, EU, UK, UN and Singapore.
Rebecca specialises in sanctions, international trade, commodities trading (particularly trade terms under INCOTERMS), maritime, oil and gas (EPCIC, from upstream to downstream oil and gas including oil trading), technology (particularly Artificial Intelligence, fintech and blockchain) and general commercial disputes. Rebecca had served as arbitrator, counsel, advocate and adviser in numerous high-profile and complex international commercial disputes.
Rebecca brings a unique advantage with her combined expertise in both legal and commercial-technical domains, particularly within the trade sectors of oil, gas, commodities trading, and maritime industries—an asset in arbitration and litigation amid today’s complex and technical business landscape. She has served for many years as General Counsel, Director of Legal, Compliance, and Head of Sanctions at multinational corporations in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, roles that have honed her strong business acumen in these fields. Rebecca used to sit in the board of directors of a Singapore oil and petrochemical company which has a sister company that owns a world class oil refinery in Brunei.
On arbitration, Rebecca accepts both party and institutional appointments as an arbitrator. She also accepts appointment as counsel in arbitrations. She has been appointed as arbitrator by the LCIA and SIAC. She sits in the UK ICC Arbitration and ADR Committee. She used to sit on the panel of arbitrators under the ICC National Committee in Singapore.
She is listed as an arbitrator by the LCIA, ICC UK, Maxwell Chambers Directory of Singapore, the European Chinese Arbitrators Association, the SCC Arbitration Institute (Stockholm), the Danske Advokater of Denmark, the Arbitral Women and the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators (London). She is on the panel of arbitrators of the SIAC (Reserved Panel), Dubai International, Arbitration Centre (DIAC), AALCO Hong Kong Regional Arbitration Centre, World Trade Center MACAU, Asia Pacific International Arbitration Chamber [Singapore] (APIAC), AIAC, AIADR and the Vietnam Traders Arbitration Centre (VTA). She is also a supporting member of the LMAA who accepts appointment as an arbitrator under the LMAA terms.
Rebecca is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (“SIArb”), the MIArb and the AIADR. She sat in the Council of the SIArb for four consecutive years (2018-2022). She had been appointed by the Benchmark Chambers International, the Base of the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China, as a Legal Expert.
Rebecca is also academically inclined, and she is a visiting law lecturer at universities in England teaching the law undergraduates on Commercial Law (including international trade, carriage of goods by sea and alternative dispute resolution, especially arbitration), Company Law, Insurance Law and Banking Law.
Education
- LL.M. with a specialisation in International Business Law (Merit), University of London (Queen Mary University of London & University College London).
- PG Dip in Law with a specialisation in International Business law (Merit), University of London (Queen Mary University of London & University College London).
- PG Cert in Law with a specialisation in Computer & Communications Law (Merit), University of London (Queen Mary University of London & University College London).
- LL.B., University of South Wales, Wales, UK
Areas of Expertise in Arbitration
- Sanctions Compliance and Regulations.
- All sanctions matters particularly sanctions from the USA, UK, EU and the UN, including secondary sanctions from the USA.
- Providing comprehensive expertadvice and legal guidance to individuals and businesses impacted by sanctions, the applicability of sanctions regimes and the options available to ensure compliance.
- Formulating effective strategies under applicable sanctions law.
- Pre-deal sanctions risk assessments, legal analysis and advice, due diligence, counterparty and ownership analysis, aggregation and control questions, payments and correspondent banking exposure, licensing and exemptions, and contract strategy that involved illegality, force majeure, frustration & termination.
- Regularly instructed on investigations, voluntary disclosures, internal controls remediation, sanctions-driven disputes and sanctions in arbitration.
- Commercial Matters including International Trade, Commodities Trading (including oil and gas trading) and INCOTERMS
- Contentious and non-contentious matters.
- Trade finance including letter of credit.
- FOSFA and GAFTA arbitrations.
- Maritime and Shipping.
- Charterparty and Bill of lading disputes.
- Laytime/demurrage.
- Cargo claims and ship collision.
- Shipbuilding, ship sale and purchase.
- Oil & Gas and Energy.
- Full entire value chain of the oil and gas industry that spans from Upstream (Exploration, Procurement, Construction, Installation and Commissioning), Midstream and Downstream (Refining and Trading).
- All aspects of oil & gas industry including anti-bribery, corruption construction, cyber security, joint venture, project operations and regulations.
- Information Technology (IT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
- Extensive experience advising on IT governance, data protection, cybersecurity, e-commerce regulations, intellectual property and technology contracts.
Arbitration Memberships
Panel Memberships
- Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) (Reserve Panel).
- London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA).
- Dubai International, Arbitration Centre (DIAC).
- AALCO Hong Kong Regional Arbitration Centre.
- World Trade Center MACAU.
- Asia Pacific International Arbitration Chamber (Singapore) (APIAC).
- ICC National Committee in Singapore (listed on ICC Case Connect Database).
- Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC).
- Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (AIADR).
- Maxwell Chambers Directory of Singapore (listed as arbitrator).
- Vietnam Traders Arbitration Centre (VTA) European Chinese Arbitrators Association (ECAA)SCC Arbitration Institute.
- The Association of Danish Law Firms (Danske Advokater) (DAA), which works closely with the Danish Institute of Arbitration (Voldgiftsinstituttet).
- Jus Mundi -JusConnect Arbitrator.
Fellowships
- Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb).
- Malaysia Institute of Arbitrators (MIArb).
- Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (AIADR).
Supporting Member, accepting appointment as arbitrator
- London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA).
Freeman of the City of London and Liveryman of the Company
- The Worshipful Company of Arbitrators.
Legal expert pool
- Benchmark Chambers International (“BCI”), The Base of the Supreme People’s Court of China (“SPC”). BCI is one of the 4 foreign law ascertainment centres designated by SPC and one of the 4 foreign law ascertainment centres of China International Commercial Court.
Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb)
- Elected Council (Board) Member (2018-2020, 2020-2022).
- Fellow – qualified independent arbitrator.
- Chairwoman of the Activities Committee.
- Vice Chair of Continuing Professional Development Committee.
- Elected Honourable Emcee of SIArb’s Annual Gala Dinner in year 2019.
- Elected Honourable Emcee of SIArb’s 40thAnniversary in year 2022.
Singapore Academy of Law (SAL)
- Committee Member of the “Promotion of Singapore Law Committee” – Head of Sub-Committee and led prominent Singapore maritime law firm together with Singapore government agency which then successfully set up the industry specific sale contract template for coal trading based on different INCOTERMS.
- Director in the Editorial Board of the “Commercial Precedents Law Committee” – Part of the decision making in setting up the commercial precedents for the SAL.