Partners

Rabindra S. Nathan

Partner
Head, Dispute Resolution
Head, Restructuring & Insolvency
Arbitration & Mediation

Key Practices

Qualifications

  • LL.B (Hons), University of Canterbury, New Zealand (1985)
  • LL.M (Hons), University of Cambridge (1987-1988)
  • Barrister & Solicitor, New Zealand (1986)
  • Advocate & Solicitor, High Court of Malaya (1987)

Rabindra graduated LL.B (Hons) from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand in 1985. At university he was:

  • Joint winner, Sir John MacArthur University Prize in Company and Commercial Law.
  • Junior and Senior University Moot competitions champion.
  • Runner-up, New Zealand Inter-Universities Moot.

Rabindra clerked in Wynn Williams & Co., Christchurch, New Zealand prior to his admission in New Zealand (1986) and chambered in Shearn Delamore prior to his admission in Malaya (1987).

In 1987, he was awarded the Even-Lewis Thomas Law Studentship and the British High Commissioner’s Chevening Award to study at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University. He won the Cambridge University Law Society Moot Competition for the Stanley de Smith trophy at the final presided by Lord Brightman (1988).

Rabindra resumed practice in Shearn Delamore in September 1988 and became partner in 1997.

He is one of the most experienced insolvency practitioners in Malaysia. He has acted in the three largest insolvencies in Malaysian history. He has also been:

  • Consultant to the Companies Commission of Malaysia - Winding up provisions of the Companies Bill 2015.
  • Country Consultant for Malaysia to the Asian Development Bank (Insolvency TA) (1999-2000).
  • Member for Malaysia, Asian Business Law Institute (ABLI) Working Group (2019-2020).
  • A founding member, Insolvency Practitioners’ Association of Malaysia (IPAM) in 2010 and Council member.
  • The sole Malaysian member of the International Insolvency Institute (III).
  • Member, III delegation to the UNCITRAL Working Group VI sessions, UNCITRAL headquarters in Vienna (2013-2017).

Rabindra also has an extensive dispute resolution practice in the West Malaysian courts and ad hoc admissions as counsel in the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak in specialised cases in arbitration and energy and power. He has numerous reported cases to his name. He regularly acts in domestic and international commercial arbitrations under the ICC, AIAC, SIAC and UNITRAL Rules. He has given expert testimony on Malaysian law in the High Court in Singapore and in international arbitrations. He is a member of the ICC Panel of Arbitrators, Malaysia.

Litigation, Insolvency & Restructuring

He has appeared regularly in the Malaysian courts at all levels namely the High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court as counsel.  These include, on a non-exhaustive basis, the following:

  • Celcom Malaysia Berhad v Mohd Shuaib Ishak [2011] 3 MLJ 636 – the first Malaysian case at the Court of Appeal under the new statutory derivative action provision in section 181A of the Companies Act 1965.
  • CIMB Investment Bank v Ernst & Young [2014] 6 CLJ 438 which is the first reported statutory audit negligence case in Malaysia involving auditors of a licensed fund management company.
  • Sime Darby Berhad & Ors v Dato Seri Zubair [2012] 9 MLJ 464 involving a claim for breaches of director’s duties against the CEO of a listed company.

Restructuring and insolvency

  • Acted for the syndicate of lenders in an appeal to the Court of Appeal in a scheme of arrangement which was the first case in Malaysia on whether a provision for subordination of debt between unsecured creditors violated the pari passu rule.
  • Acted for a bank in pursuing subrogated private banking clients’ claims against an insolvent licensed fund manager that collapsed due to pervasive fraud over a number of years.
  • Acted as principal legal counsel (2015 to 2020) to the Administrator of Malaysia Airlines in the statutory administration under the Malaysia Airlines System (Administration) Act 2015
  • Acted on behalf of the liquidator in an audit negligence claim against the auditors of a Malaysian manufacturing company that collapsed due to fraud that had gone undetected for years

Arbitrations

  • ICC arbitrations at the SIAC concerning a joint venture dispute between a Malaysian oil and gas company client and an Italian oil and gas company.
  • ICC arbitration at the LCIA in a shareholder and joint venture dispute between a Malaysian telecommunications client and a German telecommunications company.
  • HKIAC international arbitration under UNCITRAL Rules over a hotel management agreement of an ultra super luxury resort between the resort owner client and the international resort operator.

Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific
Commercial & Transactions / Dispute Resolution / Insolvency – Litigation Star (2018 – 2020)
Commercial & Transactions – Litigation Star (2021 – 2025)

Chambers Asia-Pacific
Dispute Resolution – Band 3 (2010)
Dispute Resolution – Band 2 (2011 – 2021)
Dispute Resolution – Band 1 (2022 – 2025)

  • “He’s very good at what he does and gives us good and sound advice.” – Chambers Asia-Pacific 2015
  • Recommended for his “excellent knowledge of the law.” – Chambers Asia-Pacific 2016
  • He has “excellent technical skills and is very impressive.” – Chambers Asia-Pacific 2017
  • “Technically superb … very upfront with his views.” – Chambers Asia-Pacific 2018
  • “Rabindra is our trusted adviser for grey areas in banking law and loan documentation drafting given his vast experience litigating on such issues.” – Chambers Asia-Pacific 2024

The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific
Dispute Resolution – Recommended Lawyer (2010, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020)
Dispute Resolution – Other Key Lawyer (2022 – 2025)
Projects & Energy – Recommended Lawyer (2019)
TMT – Recommended Lawyer (2020)

  • One of the founding members and a Council Member, Insolvency Practitioners’ Association of Malaysia
  • Member, Malaysian Bar
  • Member, International Bar Association (IBA)
  • Member, Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA)
  • Member, American Society of International Law (ASIL)
  • Member, British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL)
  • Member, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
  • Member, International Insolvency Institute (III)
  • Co-authored the Malaysian Chapters on Law & Practice and Trends & Developments in Chambers Global Practice Guide: Litigation (2022)
  • Co-authored the Chapter on Law & Practice (Malaysia) in Chambers Global Practice Guide on International Arbitration (2019 – 2022)
  • The Restructuring Review - Malaysia: Overview - Law Business Research, 7th Edition (2014)
  • International Insolvency - Jurisdictional Comparisons - The European Lawyer Reference Series (2015 and 2016)
  • Getting the Deal Through: Dispute Resolution - Law Business Research (2015)
  • Practical Law's Arbitration Global Guide – Malaysia Chapter, Thomson Reuters, 10th edition (2016)
  • The Asia-Pacific Restructuring Review - Malaysia: Overview - Law Business Research (2017 – 2020 and 2022)
  • Corporate Rescue Mechanisms in Malaysia, INSOL World (2017)
  • Does Juducial Management in Malaysia Sufficiently Embody a Rescue Culture? (2020) 32 Singapore Academy of Law Journal 518
  • Rabindra Nathan (ed.), Law and Practice of Corporate Insolvency Law in Malaysia (Sweet & Maxwell) (2019)