Chong Yee Leong

Partner

Yee Leong is the Co-Head of the Firm’s International Arbitration Practice and Head of the Firm’s Restructuring & Insolvency Practice. In international arbitration, he focuses on the areas of construction, energy, oil and gas, power and infrastructure projects and investment and commercial disputes in South East Asia, South Asia, East Asia and Africa. In practice for more than 35 years, Yee Leong is recognised as a leading international dispute resolution practitioner in the Asia-Pacific region.

For restructuring and insolvency, Yee Leong has been involved in the high-profile restructuring matter for Hyflux involving complex issues of insolvency law as well as myriad of regulatory and technical issues including the successful restructuring of the TuasOne project. Yee Leong was also involved in the extremely rewarding restructuring of Pacific International Lines and the judicial management and liquidation of the Hin Leong Group.

Yee Leong has been consistently recommended for his capability in international arbitration, restructuring and insolvency in various leading legal publications. Amongst others, Yee Leong is listed in the Legal 500 Private Practice Arbitration Powerlist 2022 and 2023 for South East Asia and in the Lexology Index (previously known as Who’s Who Legal) for South East Asia 2022 and 2023 for Arbitration, Construction and Restructuring & Insolvency. He is also listed in Lexology Index for South East Asia 2024 for Arbitration. Yee Leong has also been recognised as one of Asia Super 50 Disputes Lawyers 2023 by Asian Legal Business and 2024 “Lawyer of the Year” for Litigation in Singapore by Best Lawyers, for receiving the highest votes from his peers and has continued to be recognised in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in Singapore for his high calibre work in Arbitration and Mediation, Insolvency and Reorganisation Law, and Litigation. Further in Chambers Global and Chambers Asia-Pacific, a client highlighted his “advocacy skills” adding that “he was able to point out certain angles the other lawyers didn’t.” In addition to being described as a “brilliant advocate” in Legal 500, Yee Leong was recommended by a client as a “very polished and persuasive advocate”, mentioned as “an active, ‘very capable and well-known’ international arbitration specialist” and was noted as a “prominent figure in the region, thanks to his years of experience in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Laos”. Yee Leong was also one of the nominees (and the only Asian nominee) for the Global Arbitration Review inaugural “Advocate of the Year” award.

Yee Leong is a Chartered Arbitrator and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. He is the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and also on the panel of arbitrators for SIAC, Asian International Arbitration Centre, CIArb Presidential Panel of Arbitrators, Japan Commercial Arbitration Association and Borneo International Centre for Arbitration and Mediation. Yee Leong is a member of the Competition Appeal Board since September 2023 and has also served as a director of Singapore LNG Pte Ltd from 2011 to 2015.

In 2018, he was among the inaugural batch of select practitioners to be recognised as a Senior Accredited Specialist in Building and Construction Law by the Singapore Academy of Law.

Work Highlights

• Represented a Malaysian steel manufacturer against an Italian steel plant supplier in two ICC arbitrations seated in Singapore arising out of termination of an agreement for the supply of a steel plant in Prai, Malaysia with claims in excess of RM1 billion.
• Represented a Japanese contractor against a Korean contractor in an SIAC arbitration in claims in excess of US$200 million arising out of underground train project in Ho Chi Minh City.
• Represented a Cayman Island company which is part of a private equity fund against three other shareholders in an SIAC arbitration arising out of a shares dispute of a beach club in Bali, with the shares valued between US$150 million to US$200 million.
• Representing a regional private equity fund against an Indonesian company in an SIAC arbitration in claims of approximately US$117 million arising out of unpaid sums under a facility agreement.
• Represented an Indian EPC Contractor in two ICC arbitrations seated in Singapore against the developer and a subcontractor in claims for aggregate sums in excess of US$100 million arising out of a peat-fired power plant in an African country.
• Represented an unincorporated joint venture of contractors against a subcontractor in two SIAC arbitrations arising out of a clean fuel project in Siracha, Thailand, with claims in excess of THB1.2 billion.
• Representing a wholly-owned subsidiary of a Singapore company in the business of education against a Singapore listed company and its subsidiary in an SIAC arbitration arising out of a project for the construction of an education campus in Malaysia valued at approximately US$20 million.
• Representing one of the largest energy and power producer in Thailand against its former partners in a potential SIAC arbitration arising from disputes over the control of a gas-fired power project in Vietnam valued at US$15 million to US$20 million.
• Represented a company in the business of trading with claims in excess of approximately US$14.6 million in an SIAC arbitration arising out of a settlement agreement.
• Represented a Malaysian metals manufacturer against an engineering contracting company in an AIAC arbitration arising from disputes out of a contract entered between the parties for construction extension works in Sarawak, Malaysia, with claims and counterclaims amounting to RM30 million.
• Representing a Japanese global engineering company against a Malaysian construction engineering company in an arbitration in claims of approximately RM20 million arising out of the installation of a boil-off gas export compressor at an LNG Regasification Terminal.