Rabindra Nathan has broad experience in litigation cases relating to banking and insolvency, corporate matters, swaps and derivatives as well as international commercial arbitration.

He received the British High Commissioner's Award for Post-Graduate Study (1987-1988) and the Evan-Lewis Law Studentship from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University (1987-88). He was awarded an LL.M. (Hons) degree by the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (1988). While at Cambridge, he won the Cambridge University Law Society Individual Moot Competition for the Stanley De Smith Trophy in 1988.

He is a Founding Member of, and also currently a Council Member of the Insolvency Association of Malaysia. In 2011, he was admitted by invitation to become the only Malaysian member of the International Insolvency Institute, New York. He was also a member of the Advisory Board to the Institute of Asian Pacific Business Law at the William S Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii, USA.

He has given expert testimony in International Commercial arbitration and acted as counsel in many international and domestic arbitration proceedings and in spin-off court proceedings, including but not limited to proceedings under the Arbitration Act 1952, Arbitration Act 2005 and the Convention on Recognition of Foreign Arbitral Awards Act 1985.

Bar Admissions
● New Zealand (1986)
● Malaysia (1987)

Education
● LL.B (Hons), University of Canterbury, New Zealand
● LL.M (Hons), University of Cambridge
● Barrister & Solicitor, New Zealand
● Advocate & Solicitor, High Court of Malaya

Significant Accomplishments
● Asia Business Law Journal (2019 and 2020) - one of Malaysia's Top 100 Lawyers
● Asialaw Leading Lawyers (2013 - 2016) - "Leading Lawyer" in Dispute Resolution and Litigation
● Asialaw Leading Lawyers (2017 - 2019) - "Market Leading Lawyer" in Dispute Resolution and Litigation
● Asialaw Leading Lawyers (2020 and 2021)- "Elite Practitioner" in Dispute Resolution
● Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific (2018 - 2020) - "Litigation Star" in Commercial and Transactions, Dispute Resolution and Insolvency
● Chambers Asia-Pacific (2010) - "Band 3" Lawyer in Dispute Resolution
● Chambers Asia-Pacific (2011 - 2021) - "Band 2" Lawyer in Dispute Resolution
● International Law Office: Client Choice Awards (2014) - Individual Winner for Litigation for Malaysia jurisdiction
● International Law Office: Client Choice Awards (2018) - recognised for Litigation for Malaysia jurisdiction
● Expert Guides (2018 - 2020) - "Leading Practitioner" in Restructuring and Insolvency
● The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific (2010, 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2020) - "Recommended Lawyer" in Dispute Resolution
● The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific (2019) - "Recommended Lawyer" in Projects and Energy
● The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific (2020) - "Recommended Lawyer" in TMT
● Who's Who Legal (2013, 2017 and 2018) - an "Expert" in Restructuring and Insolvency
● Who's Who Legal (2018) - an "Expert" in Litigation
● Who's Who Legal (2019 and 2020) - "Global Leader" in Litigation

Professional Associations
● 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)


Professional Activities and Experience
● LITIGATION, INSOLVENCY & RESTRUCTURING

â–º 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

â–º 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.

â–º 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.

â–º 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

â–º 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.

● ARBITRATION

â–º 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.

â–º ICC arbitration at the LCIA in a shareholder and joint venture dispute between a Malaysian telecommunications client and a German telecommunications company.

â–º HKIAC international arbitration under UNCITRAL Rules over a hotel management agreement of a ultra super luxury resort between the resort owner client and the international resort operator.

• The Legal 500 Country Comparative Guides: Malaysian Chapter, International Arbitration

  By Rabindra Nathan |December 2021

• Chambers Global Practice Guide: Litigation 2022

  By Rabindra Nathan, Shearn Delamore & Co. |December 2021

• Chambers Global Practice Guides: International Arbitration 2021

  By Rabindra Nathan |October 2021

Additional ArticlesArticles & Publications:

● 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)
● 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)
● (General Editor, and author specifically of Chapters 1, 10 and 11)