Malaysia (asialaw)

Work highlights

Acting as lead counsel for a consortium of Thai insurers in a cross-border facultative reinsurance dispute against a Labuan-based reinsurer over unpaid claims arising under the Mercedes-Benz Extended Warranty Programme. The matter sits at a demanding intersection of reinsurance law and multi-jurisdictional enforcement, raising novel questions around the application of the "follow the settlements" doctrine, the verification of claims administered through third-party programme managers, and the operation of premium set-off arrangements across multiple jurisdictions. Enforcement is complicated further by the absence of reciprocal recognition regimes between Malaysia and Thailand, requiring a carefully coordinated cross-border strategy. The case is among the first of its kind to involve Thai insurers and a Labuan-based reinsurer, and speaks to Malaysia's growing prominence as a regional forum for insurance disputes.

Representing a UK-based engineering contractor in defence of a cross-border construction and product liability claim arising from the alleged failure of an intumescent fire-protection coating system applied to oil and gas storage tanks at an industrial facility in Malaysia. The dispute turned on technically complex questions of material performance, causation, and the proper construction of contractual warranty and exclusion clauses governed by English law within the context of Malaysian proceedings — requiring close coordination with Keating Chambers on the applicable English law principles. Deploying a front-loaded litigation strategy, the firm successfully secured a striking out of the claim at first instance before the Malaysian High Court, demonstrating how rigorous early-stage legal positioning can achieve decisive results in expert-driven, document-heavy disputes. The matter is currently pending appeal.

Acting for Butterfly Capital Management Co. Ltd, a member of the Fantasia Group, in a high-value cross-border investment dispute arising from a Put Option Agreement and subsequent Settlement Agreement with a Taiwanese counterparty. Moving urgently, the firm obtained a worldwide Mareva injunction from the Malaysian High Court in Labuan to preserve the counterparty's assets pending resolution of the dispute. Following a settlement recorded as a consent judgment, the counterparty defaulted, requiring a strategic pivot from settlement management to active enforcement across Malaysia, China and Taiwan — encompassing asset tracing and coordinated multi-jurisdictional recovery proceedings. The matter is a compelling illustration of the complexity inherent in enforcing Malaysian judgments against offshore counterparties, and of the increasing importance of integrated, multi-jurisdictional enforcement strategies in cross-border investment disputes.

Key clients

Country Garden Pacificview, Haitian Machinery (Malaysia), Indara Insurance Public Company