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BNA v BNB: Cappuccino without the Foam

Thio Shen Yi SC & Thara Rubini Gopalan

[2020] SAL Prac 6

Abstract:
The Singapore Court of Appeal had reason to consider the law in relation to the selection of the lex arbitri and the seat of arbitration, in a situation where the obvious choice of the lex arbitri could render the entire arbitration agreement invalid. While the Singapore court was able to deftly avoid thorny issues of separability and the extent to which an express choice of the lex arbitri had to be “express” to reach its conclusion, in a case shortly thereafter, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales considered these very same issues.