ADR Online - An AIAC Webinar Series - Statutory Rescue: Whether Introducing a COVID-19 Act can Save the Economy?
Our next webinar, titled “Statutory Rescue: Whether Introducing a COVID-19 Act can Save the Economy?” will be held on Friday, 8th May 2020 at 3:00 p.m. MYT (GMT+8).
As the COVID-19 pandemic causes the frustration of contracts and use of force majeure clauses, governments are considering what steps they can take to safeguard their economies. Singapore, for example, has enacted its COVID-19 Temporary Measures Bill (“the COVID Act”), whereas other countries have seemingly preferred to take a more hands-off approach. When drawing from Malaysia’s own past experiences, the 1998 Asian financial crisis comes to mind. When Malaysia was on the edge of recession, the Government of Malaysia set up a national asset management company known as Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad and tabled the Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad Act 1998 (“the Danaharta Act”), with its objective being to re-energize the Malaysian financial sector by buying non-performing loans from financial institutions and maximizing their recovery value. This spurred a re-energization of the financial sector which in turn, promoted confidence towards revitalizing the real economy. The question becomes, whether these recovery-like legislations such as the COVID Act and the Danaharta Act, are capable of delivering on its objective of stimulating the economy, and if so, to what extent and at what cost, if any? What are the key considerations that governments should take into consideration when enacting these legislations? And where Malaysia is concerned, what lessons can be learnt from the past in advocating for and/or against the enactment of such legislations? With the increasing popularity of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) in the last decade, will mechanisms like arbitration and mediation witness a spike in utility as part of an overall framework in facing this crisis? This panel will consider all these questions as well as the various options Malaysia and other governments have in combating the economic effects of COVID-19.
To register, please email: events@aiac.world and the Zoom webinar details will be provided.