Team
Baldev Bhinder
Baldev is the Managing Director of the Firm. He is dual qualified in Singapore and England with more than 15 years of international experience across the world’s leading global law firms. He was previously at UK Energy specialist law firm, Ashurst LLP and US arbitration heavyweight, White & Case, before he set up the Energy & Commodities practice at a Singapore law firm.
Baldev is a leading expert in O&G and Commodities and advises on all aspects of the supply chain from trading and trade finance arrangements to international recoveries and arbitration. He is a leading name in trade fraud cases and his views have been featured in the Singapore Business Times, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNA and the Financial Times.
He is a regular speaker at the Financial Times Asian Commodities Conference alongside industry titans and ministers as well as a contributing writer to the Singapore Business Times. He is particularly active in the Indonesian and South Asian markets where he acts for foreign investors, financiers, international companies, and conglomerates.
Baldev is recognised as a trailblazer in the legal sector: he was nominated as Asia’s top “40 under 40” lawyers by Asian Legal Business, as one of 20 rising Singapore legal luminaries in the Singapore Business Review and in Prestige Magazine’s top 40 list of leaders. He is also ranked for his work in international arbitration and trade by the legal directories of Legal 500, Benchmark Litigation and Who’s Who Legal. Baldev is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK. He speaks English, Punjabi, Bahasa, Hindi & Spanish.
“Baldev Bhinder is ‘exceptional, ‘understands the practicalities of international trade’, is ‘well connected in the commodities market’, knows the arbitration process inside and out’ and ‘instinctively knows where the pressure points are and can map out an effective strategy from the get go”
Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2019
“Baldev is stellar. He is plugged into the cases, the commodities market and has a great instinct for his cases. He is able to measure up his opponent as well as the judge when running the cases.”
“Baldev Bhinder is a quality lawyer, who is technically and strategically adept.”
Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2020
“Baldev Bhinder is well known in the market for his commodities work and network. His understanding of international trade is second to none and he brings that expertise to any claim or arbitration”
“Baldev Bhinder is the first person I contact if I have a question about the commodity market. He has immense knowledge regarding that topic and he is unquestionably an expert in that field. Whilst I appreciate his technical ability, the thing I admire the most is his integrity and his willingness to help regardless of whether there is a financial incentive. He cares about people and that shows in his work. It is a pleasure to know and deal with him.”
Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022
- Metals, Minerals & Agri-Commodities including trading and offtake agreements of metals, minerals, ores and agricultural products with a particular focus on quality, carriage and trade documentation disputes including those arising under GAFTA and FOSFA agreements.
- Oil & Gas including upstream and downstream contracts in the exploration, production, storage, trade and transportation of oil, gas and petrochemicals with specialist experience in LNG price renegotiations.
- Construction& Infrastructure including EPC arrangements relating to vessels, subsea equipment, offshore units such as FPSOs and rigs as well as onshore powerplants.
- Shipping & Offshore including charterparty and operational disputes arising from vessels and offshore units.
Baldev has considerable experience in international arbitration and has acted on disputes under the SIAC, ICC, UNCITRAL, LMAA, LCIA and GAFTA rules for clients that include state owned entities, oil & gas majors, mining producers, commodities traders, contractors, vessel owners, charterers and lenders.
- Advising various O&G trader affected by Singapore court restructuring and insolvency proceedings.
- Advising a lender in relation to S$60 million claim arising from an oil project in Africa.
- Acting for a trader in SIAC arbitration for a claim in excess of S$14 million against a Chinese conglomerate.
- Acting for a lender in Singapore court enforcement proceedings for a claim of US$28 million connected to the shipping market.
- Advising various power producers on PPAs and EPCs in Bangladesh and Indonesia.
- Acting against an O&G trader in Singapore proceedings for claims in excess of S$10m.
- Acted for an Indian listed company in relation to 6 SIAC arbitrations for copper trades against an international bank for disputes in excess of S$20 million.
- Successfully acted for a commodities trader in the Singapore Courts in a claim of about S$25 million.
- Acting for a lender against an agri-commodities trader in the Singapore Courts with related proceedings in the UK against the forwarder for mis-delivery of goods with total claims of about S$10 million.
- Acting for a Bangladesh steel conglomerate on SIAC arbitrations for claims of about S$5 million.
- Acting for a financier against an agri-commodities trader in multi-jurisdictional claims including Singapore Court proceedings for claims of about US$10 million.
- Acted for a commodities trader in a London arbitration for claims of about S$ 5 million in relation to double financing of cotton trades.
- Advising a large MNC on its construction project of a steel plant involving claims in excess of S$10 million.
- Advising a lender in relation to various multi-jurisdictional claims in excess of S$25 million including ship arrests, freezing injunctions, Singapore and UK security enforcement proceedings.
- “The key to reducing fraud in international trade” Singapore Business Times, February 2018.
- “Corporate Indian Insolvency: Fastest Fingers First”, International Financial Law Review, September 2017.
- “Steel Market at risk of running afoul of price fundamentals”, Singapore Business Times, May 2017.
- “Doyen of Singapore Maritime law busy as ever”, Tradewinds, April 2017.
- “BIT by BIT – Indonesia’s move away from Bi-Lateral Investment Treaties continues”, Lexis PSL Arbitration, July 2015.
- Young SIAC Inaugural Conference, “The Dynamics and Challenges of International Arbitration – The Road Ahead”, June 2015.
- “Legal Risk Informs Risk Allocation in FPSO Construction Contracts” Offshore Magazine, December 2014.
- Cited in article by Steven Knight published in Maritime Journal – “Wind contractors hit by risk”, December 2014.
- “Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in Indonesia”, LexisPSL Arbitration, Dec 2014.
- “Navigating Refund Guarantees: Steering Clear of Choppy Waters”, Marine Money International Oct/Nov 2014.
- “Arbitrating in Indonesia – What have you signed up for”, LexisPSL Arbitration, Aug 2014.
- “Errors in construction standards and specifications”, Australian Construction Law Newsletter July/August 2014.
- “A Mountain Too High: The Challenge of Setting Aside an Arbitral Award on the Basis of Fraud in Different Jurisdictions”, SchiedsVZ, February 2013.
Samuel Tan
Samuel is a Consultant with the Firm. He qualified as a Solicitor of England and Wales and has worked in London and Singapore with a leading international law firm from 2009 to 2017. Sam & Baldev were previously colleagues at the market-leading Energy practice of Ashurst. He subsequently took on a business role with a family office.
Sam has specific expertise in negotiating and managing complex multi-party commercial transactions that form part of the broader energy value chain; including international commodities sale and purchases, M&A for oil and gas assets/infrastructure, as well as other related business activities such as storage, maintenance, and shared usage of common facilities. Notably, he has advised key LNG market players and terminal users /developers in Southeast Asia including Pavilion Gas, PETRONAS, and Pertamina.
Having valuable first-hand commercial experience in petrochemical trading operations and industry benchmark pricing – clients seek out Sam’s unique ability to appreciate the transaction from both legal and commercial perspectives. Sam’s previous legal experience helps him to customize solutions that address, and dovetail with, the specific pressures facing his clients. He is now a non-practising Consultant on oil, gas, and LNG related matters.
Samuel graduated with a degree in law from the University of Cambridge, UK.
- Advising Pavilion Gas in relation to its successful bid for a Singapore LNG import licence (2016), as well as on its first publicly announced long-term LNG sale and purchase agreement.
- Advising Pertamina in relation to its US$2 billion acquisition of several Malaysian upstream oil and gas exploration assets (Asian Lawyer “Energy Deal of the Year” 2015).
- Advising PETRONAS on the development of its 2nd LNG receiving terminal located at its Pengerang Integrated Complex in Southern Johor, Malaysia.
- Advising a Singapore based energy trader in relation to LNG master sales arrangements with more than 15 potential counterparties.
- An in-house role at Mitsui Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd, where he advised in relation to a wide range of commodity flow contracts and trade-related legal queries.
- Portfolio” LNG SPAs: Who Benefits? Parts 1 and 2, Gastech Insights, Apr – Jun 2016, co-authored with Daniel Reinbott.
- “Gas sales agreements: sole remedy for failure to deliver”, 2015.
- “LNG – overview and project essentials” Chapter in the Oil and Gas: A Practical Handbook, Second Edition published by Globe Law and Business in 2014, co-authored with Daniel Reinbott and Erin Dyer.
- “Myanmar natural gas: how much can investors expect to export”, December 2013.
- “AIPN releases new 2012 version of its model LNG master sales agreement”, July 2012.
V Kumar Sharma
Kumar is an Associate Director with the Firm. He trained and qualified with a Big Four law firm in Singapore and was previously at a leading international law firm that specialized in the energy, trade & commodities and infrastructure sectors. He has worked with prominent Senior and Queen’s Counsel, and has over seven years of litigation and arbitration experience.
Kumar’s contentious disputes experience spans areas such as projects and construction, ship building, trade disputes, hospitality, complex commercial fraud, joint ventures and shareholder/directors’ disputes. He regularly appears before the Singapore Courts and is experienced in arbitrations under all major rules. Kumar is also experienced in mediation and adjudications under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act.
Added to this, Kumar is active in the cryptocurrency industry. He has advised on a fraudulent Initial Coin Offering in Canada and is a strategic advisor to a blockchain technology company at the forefront of NFT and AI technology.
Kumar graduated Magna Cum Laude with double degrees in Law and Social Science (majoring in political science) from Singapore Management University (Dean’s List 2009).
Kumar speaks English and Hindi.
- Acted for an oil major in a BANI arbitration, seated in Jakarta and subject to Indonesian law, arising from disputes with a consortium of contractors who constructed on-shore oil production facilities in Indonesia.
- Acting for Thai sub-contractors in an ICC arbitration arising from disputes with Japanese main contractors over the alleged abandonment of works for a refinery and petrochemical complex in Malaysia.
- Advised a large, multinational main contractor in respect of claims against a sub-contractor for defective box culverts in a gas turbine power plant in Malaysia, and in defending claims brought by the Owner for delayed completion of the plant.
- Acted for a sub-contractor in a claim for payment of retention monies brought by a contractor in respect of an aroma ingredients plant in Malaysia.
- Acting for an investor in an SIAC arbitration arising from the acquisition of an Indian automobile conglomerate by a Thai listed company and personal guarantees provided in the sum of USD 122 million.
- Acted for buyers of two jack up oil rigs valued at $400 million against a main contractor in LMAA arbitrations, and defended claims brought by the main contractor against an entity related to the buyer in a HKIAC arbitration
- Acted for a vessel construction company in a $21 million SCMA arbitration arising out of the outfitting, commissioning and testing of a Dynamic Positioned Pipelay Construction vessel.
- Acting for an investor in SIAC arbitration proceedings in respect of a convertible loan agreement relating to the establishment and/or expansion of a famous, global, fast food chain in Vietnam.
- Acted for a joint venture oil and gas company against a global crane manufacturer in an AIAC arbitration concerning the collapse of a platform crane.
- Advised and acted for an Indian company in a SIAC arbitration against a Thai company concerning the sale and delivery of timber.
- Advised and acted for a UAE trading company in a SIAC arbitration against a Chinese company concerning the sale and delivery of prilled and granular urea.
- Acted for building owners in a $20 million claim against various contractors and consultants in a dispute arising out of the failure of a building’s façade cladding system.
- Acted for minority shareholders of a Singapore joint venture company in four actions against former directors and their associated companies for breach of fiduciary duties and minority oppression.
- Advised and acted for an Indonesian coal conglomerate in defending claims amounting to $1 billion brought by their former Australian joint venture partners, and pursuing counterclaims in a dispute concerning the operations of a coal briquetting plant.
Shane Sim
Shane is an Associate Director with the Firm. He trained and qualified with a Big Four law firm in Singapore renowned for its disputes practice. He has worked with a prominent Senior Counsel and has over six years of litigation and arbitration experience. Throughout his practice, Shane has been actively engaged in a wide range of domestic and cross-border litigation and arbitration matters. He has represented clients at all levels of the Singapore Courts and is well-versed in arbitrations under all major rules.
His expertise in contentious disputes spans areas such as energy, international trade, banking and finance, shareholder rights, fiduciary duties, and breach of contract. He also has extensive experience in investigations, insolvency matters and debt-recovery work.
In The Legal 500, Shane is described as being “well versed in matters related to our request and go the extra mile to ensure our requests are professionally addressed”.
Shane graduated with a degree in law (Dean’s List 2013) from the National University of Singapore in 2015. In his final year, he represented NUS in the International Criminal Court Moot Competition held in The Hague, Netherlands. As an alumnus, Shane continues to coach budding mooters in NUS. Shane is fluent in English and Mandarin.
- Investigations of various trade credit insurance claims with aggregate value in excess of US$300 million.
- Acted for a lender in LCIA arbitrations in relation to a S$60 million claim arising from an oil project in Africa.
- Acting for a lender in relation to a US$20 million claim under a facility agreement, with parallel court proceedings in Singapore and the UK as well as the enforcement of a worldwide freezing injunction.
- Acted for a Singapore subsidiary of a public listed energy company in two back-to-back SIAC arbitrations over the sale of biodiesel fuel blend worth US$14 million. The case involved allegations of fraud in connection with documentation issued by a trade body, and expert evidence on Chinese customs laws.
- Successfully obtained two GAFTA arbitration awards for US$10 million in favour of a funder against defaulting buyers under a receivables purchase agreement.
- Advising a leading global mining group on the modernisation and revamp of its supply contracts.
- Appeared before the Singapore High Court and successfully resisted a debtor’s application to set aside the client’s statutory demand, the debtor’s application for a scheme of arrangement under Section 64 of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act, and obtained the debtor’s winding up.
- Acting for a trade creditor in the collapse of one of Singapore’s largest oil traders.
- Advised a major Singapore bank in respect of a claim for breach of warranty involving its acquisition of a private banking business in a US$1.4bn deal. The quantum in dispute was in excess of US$24 million. The case involved complex issues of Singapore accounting standards, derivatives valuation and Swiss insolvency law.
- Acted in the successful prosecution of the largest and most extensive corruption case in Brunei involving more than B$5 million in losses suffered by Brunei Shell Petroleum.
- Successfully represented a licensed moneylender in upholding its interest rates charged under a S$10 million loan to a property development company.
- Successfully represented corporations in claims against their former director and CEO for breach of fiduciary duties and conspiracy, and succeeded in obtaining S$5.6 million in damages.
- Research Assistant, in contribution to Yihan Goh and Paul Tan, Singapore Law: 50 Years in the Making (Academy Publishing, 2015)
Ramandeep Kaur
Raman is an Associate Director with the Firm. She trained and qualified with a leading international law firm in Singapore specializing in construction. Raman worked with Baldev in her previous role and moved with the team when BlackStone & Gold was set up. Her expertise covers a broad range of international trade and construction related issues in the energy and commodities sector.
Raman’s core focus is on international arbitration, but she has also appeared before the Singapore High Court for restructuring and contractual disputes. She has been recognized as a key lawyer in Legal 500 2022 and 2023 for International Arbitration and commended as “standing out” for her “knowledge, professionalism, service level and attention”, and for having proven to be a “worthy ally” for her clients.
She has considerable experience acting for lenders, traders and insurers in a variety of cases involving trade fraud, shipping, quality and contractual disputes involving jurisdictions such as Vietnam, China, UK, Bangladesh and India.
Raman has contributed to leading legal publications on construction and arbitration.
Raman graduated with a degree in law (final year Dean’s list) from the National University of Singapore.
- Advising a lender in relation to a S$60 million claim arising from an oil project in Africa.
- Acting for a trader in SIAC arbitration for a claim in excess of S$14 million against a Chinese conglomerate.
- Acting for a lender in Singapore court enforcement proceedings for a claim of US$28 million connected to the shipping market.
- Acting against an O&G trader in Singapore court proceedings for claims in excess of S$10m.
- Acting for a financier against an agri-commodities trader in multi-jurisdictional claims including Singapore court proceedings for claims of about US$10 million.
- Acted for a commodities trader in a London arbitration for claims of about S$ 5 million in relation to double financing of cotton trades.
- Advising a large MNC on a project for the construction of a steel plant concerning claims in excess of S$10 million.
- Acting for a lender against an agri-commodities trader in the Singapore Courts with related proceedings in the UK against the forwarder for misdelivery of goods with total claims of about S$10 million.
- Acting for a Bangladesh steel conglomerate in SIAC arbitrations for claims of about S$5 million.
- Researched and co-edited six chapters of Law and Practice of Construction Contracts (5th Ed, 2018, Sweet & Maxwell), a leading textbook on construction law in Singapore (May 2017 – Jan 2018)
- Assistant Editor, Singapore Arbitration Journal (2019 – Present).
- Can Directors Rely on their Companies’ Arbitration Agreements? Kluwer Arbitration Blog.
- Due Diligence and Time of the Essence in Construction Contracts – Can they be implied? Society of Construction Law (Singapore) Newsletter (Jan 2018).
- Justice in Adjudication: Rough, Ready and “Natural”. Apparent Bias in Construction Adjudication. Society of Construction Law (Singapore) Newsletter (Sep 2017).
- Anti-suit Injunctions in Favour of Arbitration – A Permanent Fixture in Singapore? Singapore Institute of Arbitrators Newsletter (Jun 2017)