Tay Yong Seng

Partner

Yong Seng acts as lead counsel in a broad spectrum of commercial disputes, in both litigation and arbitration. His clients include global financial institutions, leading multinational companies and government bodies.

Yong Seng is recognised as a leading lawyer by various top-tier international publications including Chambers, The Legal 500, Lexology Index and Benchmark Litigation in the fields of commercial litigation, international arbitration and employment. He was shortlisted by Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific for Singapore Lawyer of the Year for 2023.

In the High Court, he has particular expertise in commercial, banking, real estate and employment litigation. He has acted for top-tier financial institutions and trading companies like BGC Partners (global financial and commodities brokerage headquartered in New York and London), Itochu (one of Japan’s largest trading conglomerates) and Maersk (Danish shipping and logistics conglomerate) in complex litigation that pushed the boundaries of Singapore law. He has also successfully represented banks, real estate developers and engineering companies, in complex Court claims.

In the Court of Appeal (Singapore’s highest Court), his experience lies in arguing novel and difficult points of law. His successful cases as lead advocate include a landmark 5-Judge decision on defamation, and various leading decisions on company/insolvency law and tort law. He successfully argued Singapore’s first civil action under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 in a ground-breaking decision that recognised emotional distress as being part of “loss or damage” actionable under the Act for the first time. This case was recognised as an Impact Case by Benchmark Litigation in 2023.

Yong Seng has a busy international arbitration practice, spanning the fields of heavy industries, power generation (both conventional and renewable), commodities trading, chemicals, private equity, real estate and fast-moving consumer goods. He has acted for top-tier Japanese heavy engineering MNCs and trading companies (sogo sosha), as well as leading US and European manufacturers in international arbitrations. In this regard, he has extensive experience in handling large-scale industrial accidents and complex product liability cases, having defended leading manufacturers in the heavy engineering, power-generation, renewable energy, automotive and chemical industries, and represented leading trading companies in complex commodities trading disputes. He also has significant experience in defending arbitration awards in the Singapore Courts against setting-aside challenges.

Yong Seng is recognised by leading legal directories like The Legal 500 (“Leading Partner”), Benchmark Litigation (“Litigation Star”), Chambers (“Ranked Lawyer”) and Lexology Index (“Recommended Lawyer”), who note, inter alia, as follows:

“Tay Yong Seng has a razor sharp legal mind and is a very powerful advocate. He combines a brilliant Oxford mind with exceptional trial expertise. He is an absolutely first rate litigator, one of the strongest court advocates of his generation. Thoroughly impressed by his legal brilliance and tireless dynamism. A match for any silk.”

“[He] has a very sharp and insightful mind and plans his court strategy like a chess grandmaster”, [is] “Oxford-educated and technically razor sharp”, “technically brilliant and makes difficult cases seem easy”, [an] “excellent Court advocate, strong sense of the occasion and fast on his feet, [and] “combines an incisive and brilliant mind with tremendous energy and drive”. “Tay Yong Seng is the best litigation partner I have worked with. A superbly outstanding legal strategist who relishes novel and difficult legal cases, many of which are landmark cases in Singapore…his arguments are powerful, clear, incisive and persuasive.”

Yong Seng has prior Government experience as an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Law. He is also active in academia. At Singapore Management University (SMU), he teaches as Adjunct Faculty on Commercial Remedies in Litigation and has served on the Practice Advisory Committee. At the Singapore Academy Law (SAL), he serves as Subject Editor for SAL Practitioner (Employment Law), and Co-Editor of the SAL Annual Review of Singapore Cases (Equity and Trusts).

He was previously also a member of the Board of Governors of Nanyang Polytechnic and is presently Honorary Legal Adviser to the Singapore Table Tennis Association.

Yong Seng was educated at Oxford University. He took a B.A. (Hons) in Law in 2003 (converted to M.A. in 2013), and a B.C.L. in 2004. At Oxford, he was an Exhibitioner and a College Book Prize winner at Pembroke College.

Work Highlights

High Court Litigation

Mahina Woon v GFI Group (OS 4 of 2015)

  • Acted for GFI Group (now part of BGC Group, the global financial and commodities brokerage) in enforcing a worldwide non-compete covenant in its employment contracts

Tan Kok Yong Steve v Itochu Singapore [2018] SGHC 85

  • Acted for Itochu (Japanese trading conglomerate or “sogo sosha”) in enforcing a ground breaking two year international non-compete against a former Itochu trader

Maersk Trade Finance v Ng Xin Wei, (Suit 189 of 2020).

  • Acted for Maersk Trade Finance (division of Maersk, the global shipping and logistics leader) in enforcing a worldwide “Mareva” freezing injunction in relation to the Agritrade commodity collapse

Li Jialin and Li Suinan v Wingcrown [2023] SGHC 256; [2024] SGCA 48

  • Acted for Wingcrown, a unit of Wing Tai (leading international real estate developer headquartered in Singapore), in successfully enforcing the developer’s contractual right to retain defaulting purchasers’ option money paid in advance of the purchase

Golden Pacific Shipping & Holdings Pte Ltd v Arc Marine Engineering Pte Ltd [2024] SGHC 15

  • Acted for Arc Marine Engineering, the ship repair arm of the Executive Group (leading international maritime group headquartered in Singapore), in successfully defending a novel and complex claim alleging negligent ship engineering and repairs. Claim was dismissed in entirety, with costs.
  • High Court decision successfully defended in the Appellate Division of the High Court (CA 7 of 2024: Golden Pacific Shipping & Holdings Pte Ltd v Arc Marine Engineering Pte Ltd)

BGC Partners and GFI Group v Sumit Grover [2024] SGHC 206

  • Acted for BGC Partners and its subsidiary GFI Group Pte Ltd (the global financial and commodities brokerage) in a landmark employment law decision on the employer’s right to enforce performance ratios against an employee and the employer’s powers of discretion over bonuses.

Appellate Advocacy (Court of Appeal)

  • Leading Court of Appeal decision on company and insolvency law (Seah Teong Kang v Seah Yong Chwan [2015] 5 SLR 792).
  • Precedent setting 5-Judge Court of Appeal decision on defamation law (Goh Lay Khim v Isabel Redrup [2017] 1 SLR 546).
  • Ground-breaking Court of Appeal decision on tort law and res ipsa locquitur (Grace Electrical v Te Duem Engineering [2018] 1 SLR 76).
  • Landmark Court of Appeal decision on Singapore’s first successful civil action under the Personal Data Protection Act, setting standards on the scope of actionable “loss or damage” under the Act (Michael Reed v Alex Bellingham [2022] 4 SLR 513).
  • Landmark Court of Appeal decision on developer’s rights to retain option monies, from defaulting purchasers in real estate contracts: Li Jialin and Li Suinan v Wingcrown [2024] SGCA 48.

International Arbitration (SIAC and ICC)

SIAC Arbitration (2021 to 2024) - Power Generation / Coal Fired Power Station

  • Successfully defended claims originally quantified in excess of USD120 million, brought in relation to allegedly defective power generation equipment supplied to one of the biggest coal fired power stations in South East Asia.
  • All claims were successfully defended, with substantial costs awarded in favour of the client (SIAC Arbitration, 2020 to 2024).
  • Client is one of the world’s leading heavy industry groups and headquartered in Japan, spanning shipbuilding, energy and power generation, industrial machinery, and aerospace.

ICC Arbitration (2021 to 2024) - Renewable Energy / Solar Power

  • Successfully defended an extremely large-scale alleged product liability case involving allegedly defective solar panels. Solar panels in dispute numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and allegedly deployed at thousands of physical sites across a continent-sized geographical area. Claims were valued at over USD24 million to USD30 million.   
  • All claims were successfully defended, with substantial costs awarded in favour of the client (ICC Arbitration, 2021 to 2024).
  • Client is one of the world’s largest trading conglomerates and headquartered in Japan, with businesses and investments globally.

SIAC Arbitration (2022 to 2024) – E-Commerce / Consumer Goods

  • Successfully acted enforced purchase contracts for the bulk purchase of consumer goods (liquors and whiskies) (SIAC Arbitration (2022 to 2024))
  • Client is one of Asia’s leading international e-commerce companies.

SIAC Arbitration (2016 to 2017) – Healthcare

  • Successfully acted in one of the first Expedited Arbitrations in the SIAC under the 2016 Arbitration Rules in relation to a joint venture dispute, (SIAC Arbitration, 2016 to 2017),
  • Client is one of Japan’s biggest healthcare and wellness companies.
  • Subsequently defended the SIAC award in a setting aside application in the Singapore High Court (Mary Chia Beauty v Slim Beauty House, OS 849 of 2017)

Defence of ICC Award against Setting Aside Challenge: CNQ v CNR [2022] 4 SLR 1150

  • Successfully defended an ICC arbitration award in the Singapore High Court, involving complex issues of sale of goods and quantification of claims.
  • Client is a leading Japanese MNC in the chemicals industry

Defence of ICC Award from Setting Aside: CNQ v CNR [2023] 4 SLR 1031.  

  • Successfully acted for a leading Japanese MNC in defending an ICC arbitration award in the Singapore High Court, involving issues of alleged pre-judgment by the arbitration tribunal
  • Client is a leading Japanese MNC in the chemicals industry
  • This is a leading case on setting aside principles that has been featured in leading arbitration publications like Global Arbitration Review and Kluwer.

Publications