On March 7, 2018, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) released its annual report for 2017.  The highly anticipated report provided insight into the first full calendar year since the SIAC introduced the new edition of its rules on August 1, 2016 (You may read about it here).

The SIAC’s caseload increased from 343 in 2016 to a record-breaking 452 in 2017.  While China and India remain significant contributors to the SIAC’s caseload, several countries from Europe and the Middle East have broken into the top ten in the past year, namely Germany, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates.  From Asia-Pacific, Japan is also a new addition to the top ten.

The President of the SIAC, Mr. Gary Born, speaking at the SIAC’s Annual Appreciation Event on March 7, 2018, suggested that the dramatic increase in the SIAC’s caseload and its success during 2017 is due in large part to the frequent and innovative improvement of its rules.  The SIAC’s innovations include mechanisms for emergency arbitration, expedited proceedings, and early dismissal of claims and defenses in certain situations.  As the 2017 report reveals, almost all of the applications for early dismissal and emergency arbitration were granted, while a significant number of expedited procedure applications were successful.

Together with the SIAC’s recent proposal to introduce provisions on consolidation of arbitrations between arbitral institutions, the annual report demonstrates the SIAC’s continued desire to innovate and its successes when doing so.

For more information, please see the SIAC’s Annual Report 2017.