Rajah & Tann Partners Launch Setia Law in Singapore with Focus on Dispute Resolution

Rajah & Tann Partners Launch Setia Law in Singapore with Focus on Dispute Resolution

Danny Ong and Wern-Jhien Yam, who were previously partners at Rajah & Tann in Singapore, have founded a new disputes-focussed law firm called Setia Law. Ong and Yam have exited Rajah & Tann along with a team of six lawyers. Setia Law will focus on complex cross-border cases including financial disputes, commercial fraud, international enforcement and corporate distress situations, as well as cryptocurrency disputes.

Ong will serve as Managing Partner of the firm, while Yam will serve as Director.

Ong commented: “Having established a leading disputes and crisis management practice in one of the major law firms in Asia, the time was right to drive this focus further by establishing Setia Law.

As the Managing Partner of Setia Law, Ong will bring his expertise in advising financial institutions, private investment funds, and state-owned enterprises on cross-border disputes and investigations.

With over 15 years of experience at Rajah & Tann and a previous stint at Hogan Lovells for three years, Ong has expertise in complex international investigations and commercial disputes and in the Banking and Finance practice. He has led investigations involving cryptocurrencies, commodities, insider trading and market manipulation, among other matters. In his role as counsel to liquidators he has overseen cross-border investigations into banks and businesses including Lehman Brothers, MF Global Singapore and Dynamic Oil Trading.

Ong also has successfully prosecuted the first cryptocurrency claim before the Singapore International Commercial Court in 2019.

Ong has had a tenure of around 15 years at Rajah & Tann, where he was a partner in the commercial litigation group. Ong’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and arbitration across industries including finance, construction, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, electronics and hospitality. He is also experienced in cross-border fraud and asset recovery, particularly fraudulent e-commerce transactions, having obtained a number of freezing injunctions and pre-action disclosure orders in aid of recovery actions against fraudulent e-commerce operators in Singapore and in foreign jurisdictions.