New Edition Of Singapore International Arbitration Centre Rules To Come Into Effect Shortly

Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers are increasingly finding themselves resolving disputes through international arbitration. After London, Singapore is now arguably the second most important arbitration center in the world, meaning the Singapore International Arbitration Centre's (SIAC) new arbitration rules, which were due to come into effect on June 1, 2016, but will now come into effect shortly, should be of particular interest to global life sciences companies.

Here are some of the changes companies arbitrating through SIAC will see under the new rules:

• Improvements to expedited procedure. SIAC offers an expedited procedure that allows parties to significantly cut down on the arbitration timeframe under certain circumstances. Under a new amendment to the SAIC rules, the maximum total value in dispute that can seek to utilize the expedited procedure is now SGD6 million (approximately US $4.35 million as of today's exchange rates).