SIAC Releases 2018 Annual Report

Its caseload statistics for 2018, released on March 6, 2019, and available here, reveal several interesting trends. Once again the number of new cases handled by SIAC exceeded 400. With these new statistics, the new cases filed with SIAC in the last decade have increased by more than four times.

The majority of SIAC’s cases relate to trade, commercial disputes, and maritime disputes. The 2018 statistics show a 74 percent increase in the aggregate value claimed—up from approximately $4 billion USD to $7.06 billion USD.

SIAC reports that 80 percent of its caseload is international. In 2018, parties from 65 jurisdictions submitted cases to SIAC. For the first time in SIAC’s history, parties from the United States were the largest users—with 109 cases. Additionally, SIAC boasts a diverse pool of arbitrators. For example, of the 175 arbitrator appointments that SIAC made in 2018, 34 percent were of women.

SIAC is also seen as a neutral, non-regional venue. For example, 42 percent of the new cases filed in 2016 did not involve Singaporean parties. And Singapore is viewed as an international hub for arbitration, with a modern arbitration law. The SIAC Rules are similarly innovative. They include expedited procedures and emergency arbitrators as well as an early dismissal procedure.