The 2025 TMA APAC Regional Conference was held on August 20-21, 2025, at the Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore, with the Gala Dinner taking place at the Raffles Hotel on the evening of August 20. The event featured a comprehensive program of knowledge sharing, business development, and networking for professionals in the turnaround and restructuring community.

Here are some highlights from the conference:

Opening Keynote & Fireside Chat

• The conference began with a fireside chat featuring Matt Becker from Deloitte, who interviewed Patrick Lee of Standard Chartered.
• The discussion focused on the latest economic and capital trends across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

Capital Landscape in APAC

• Lachlan Edwards (Faraday Associates), Jacob Samuel (Ares Credit), and Tim Stewart (Gordon Brothers) explored the evolving capital landscape in APAC.
• They used a hypothetical case study to prompt discussion on the topic.

Special Situations Valuation: Tech, Startups and Unicorns

• This session was moderated by Tan Kai Yun (WongPartnership).
• Annabelle Cai (Kroll), Kelvin Goh (Openspace), and Jonathan Chandra (Openspace) participated in a panel discussion about the complexities of valuing tech companies, startups, and unicorns in special situations.

TMA NOW Breakfast

• Maria O'Brien (Clayton Utz) spoke at the launch of the TMA SEA Network of Women (NOW) to begin day 2
• Other attendees included Murali Pillai SC (Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Law and Transport, Singapore), Edward Tiong (Allen & Gledhill), Jacqueline Chan (Milbank)

Legal & Regulatory Evolution in Singapore

• Murali Pillai SC, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Law and Transport in Singapore, delivered an opening keynote on Day 2 of the conference.
• He shared insights on Singapore's legal and regulatory evolution as a restructuring hub and highlighted opportunities for cross-jurisdictional cooperation in APAC.

The Judges Panel

• A panel of judges, including Justice Elizabeth Cheeseman from Australia, also shared their perspectives on legal reform and the importance of cross-border cooperation.

Real Estate Trends & Opportunities

• Gabriel Fong (CapitaLand Investments) and Nick Jacobson (Wingate) discussed emerging trends and investment opportunities in the APAC real estate sector.

Navigating Insolvency in China

• Eddie Middleton from Alvarez & Marsal was interviewed by Jacqueline Chan (Milbank) about the liquidation of Evergrande and the intricacies of navigating insolvency in China.

The Role of AI in Restructuring

• John Ho from Standard Chartered delivered the closing keynote address.
• He broke down artificial intelligence and explored its potential use cases for detecting financial distress and restructuring scenarios.

Networking & Gala Dinner

• The 2025 TMA Gala Dinner was a "full house" event with over 240 attendees.
• A charity auction was also held, with Matt Aubrey (Gordon Brothers) leading the event.