Torsten has a broad-based commercial disputes practice. He has particular expertise in complex high-value litigation, international arbitration and appellate advocacy, and significant experience in banking, shareholder, insolvency and hospitality disputes.
Torsten has acted for and advised a variety of corporate and individual clients, including financial institutions, technology conglomerates, liquidators and receivers, global hospitality brands, professional services firms, real estate developers and ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
Before joining Rajah & Tann in 2019, Torsten clerked for the Chief Justice of Singapore and served as a State Counsel and Deputy Public Prosecutor in the Attorney-General’s Chambers where he advised the Government and prosecuted narcotics and serious sexual offences.
In 2021, Torsten was appointed to the Supreme Court’s Young Amicus Curiae Scheme and was commended by the Chief Justice for being “of considerable assistance to [the Court], and indeed to all parties, with his diligent research and thoughtful submissions” for his role as amicus curiae in a Magistrate’s Appeal.
Torsten graduated with First Class Honours from Magdalen College, Oxford, and obtained a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School on the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship and the Rajah & Tann Postgraduate Programme Scholarship, winning several academic, writing and mooting prizes along the way.
EXPERIENCE
Torsten has acted in many disputes that are of high-value and commercial or public significance and involve complex issues of fact and law. Here are a few:
- Acting for a professional trust company in a claim brought in the SICC by the former Prime Minister of Georgia for damages exceeding US$1 billion (Credit Suisse Trust v Ivanishvili [2024] 2 SLR 164).
- Acting for an international brokerage firm in a dispute over the sale of futures contracts in margin trading account (Rajesh Budhrani v INTL FCStone [2024] SGHC 18).
- Acting for the liquidators and private trustees of Agritrade International Pte Ltd and its director-owner in an appeal involving novel questions on transactions at an undervalue (Rothstar Group Ltd v Leow Quek Shiong [2022] 2 SLR 158).
- Acting for UOB in a cross-border debt-recovery claim exceeding US$180 million which gave rise to the first Court of Appeal decision applying the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (United Securities Sdn Bhd v United Overseas Bank Ltd [2021] 2 SLR 950).
- Acting for PwC in a claim alleging the negligent conduct of a forensic investigation into Chinese investments made by an SGX-listed company (Tan Woo Thian v PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services Pte Ltd [2021] 1 SLR 1166).
- Acting for the subsidiary of an SGX-listed energy company in a claim under a US$250 million repo agreement which gave rise to a landmark judgment on the standard for disputing an arbitrable debt to resist winding-up (AnAn Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd v VTB Bank (Public Joint Stock Co) [2020] 1 SLR 1158).
- Acting for receivers appointed under a debenture securing US$1.68 billion in syndicated loans, in claims by trade creditors including BP and Glencore involving issues of set-off and de-crystallisation of floating charges (BP Singapore Pte Ltd v Jurong Aromatics Pte Ltd [2020] 1 SLR 627).
- Acting for the majority shareholders of the Samwoh Group in a dispute over the application of valuation discounts in a share buy-out following a compromised oppression claim (Liew Kit Fah v Koh Keng Chew [2020] 1 SLR 275).
- Acting for the Prosecution in the landmark case setting out the sentencing framework for the offence of rape (Ng Kean Meng Terence v Public Prosecutor [2017] 2 SLR 449).
- Acting for a global hospitality brand in a dispute with a Singapore-based owner of a luxury hotel in a SIAC arbitration.
- Acting for a global hospitality brand in a dispute with owners of a Philippines hotel in a SIAC arbitration.
- Acting for a Middle Eastern state-owned luxury hotel chain in a dispute with owners of a Maldives resort in a SIAC arbitration.
- Acting for a trade finance bank in a dispute with a multinational commodities trading company in a LCIA arbitration.
MEMBERSHIPS / DIRECTORSHIPS
- Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
- Member, Associates Management Committee, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP (2021–2024)
- Member, Young Lawyers’ Committee, Law Society of Singapore (2023–2024)
- Member, Generative Artificial Intelligence Committee, Law Society of Singapore (2024–present)
- Volunteer, Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, Pro Bono SG (2019–present)
- Member, Law Awareness Committee, Pro Bono SG (2023–2024)
PUBLICATION
- Updated the chapters on Negotiable Instruments, Letters of Credit and Lending and Security in “Finance and Banking”, Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore (2022)
