SIM Bock Eng is the Head of the Specialist & Private Client Disputes Practice and a Partner in the Private Wealth Practice.
Her main practice areas are in private wealth and civil litigation, which include family, matrimonial law, succession trusts and probate law, banking and finance, property and employment.
Bock Eng has over 20 years of experience in trust, estate and family laws – both front-end as well as litigation. She regularly advises ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families on succession and estate planning and business continuity. Bock Eng has represented local and international banks, financial institutions and private investors in a wide variety of on-shore and off-shore matters including acting for the trustees of the Lehman-linked minibond in the Global Financial Crisis, acting for Deutsche Bank in defending one of the biggest private client claims in the history of Singapore in the High Court of the Republic of Singapore and acting for an international bank implicated in the Olympus saga when Olympus Corporation used funds from various mergers and acquisitions to fund its losses for more than 20 years. She is recognised as one of the leading probate, trusts and private wealth management lawyers in Singapore and has been involved in several landmark decisions.
Bock Eng is the Vice Chairman of the Wealth Management Institute's Global-Asia Family Office (GFO) Circle Committee, a member of the Probate Practice Committee of the Law Society of Singapore, and past Chairman and current secretary of STEP Singapore. She is also the course co-ordinator for Probate in the Preparatory Course Leading to Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations.
Matters of significance in which Bock Eng has been involved in include acting/advising for the following:
- An ultra-high-net-worth foreign patriarch on succession and estate planning, setting up of family office as well as residency issues for his family.
- An ultra-high-net-worth individual who was the founder of a multinational listed pharmaceutical company on asset protection, involving multiple asset classes in various jurisdictions. The client faced enforcement proceedings with a quantum of several hundred million US dollars. The challenge was thus in navigating the laws as to asset protection against creditors, for succession and in the event of insolvency.
- The intended interim administrators of the estate of a high-profile high-net-worth foreign businessman who died under mysterious circumstances in the investigation of the deceased’s estate and preservation thereof. This application was unprecedented as there was complex multi-jurisdictional litigation relating to the deceased’s estate which holds significant assets in multiple jurisdictions.
- A high-net-worth family to review the businesses and asset-holding of the family in the PRC, and working towards their protection as family assets.
- HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Limited (the "Trustee") in its capacity as trustee for the holders of the structured notes (the "Minibond Notes") issued by Minibond Limited ("Minibond") pursuant to the Minibond S$10 billion Secured Note Programme, to provide advice to the Trustee on issues arising from the event of default occurring on the Minibond Notes following the commencement of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the United States by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Lehman Brothers Special Financing.
- Societe Generale in successfully defending against an action commenced in the High Court of Singapore by Jurong Shipyard Pte. Ltd. for a sum of approximately US$200 million.
Related Practices
- Private Wealth
- Specialist & Private Client Disputes
Bock Eng is the winner of 2020 Best Lawyers "Lawyer of the Year" award for Trusts and Estates in Singapore. She is recognised as a leading individual for Private Wealth and recommended in the area of Dispute Resolution in The Legal 500: Asia Pacific – The Client's Guide to the Asia Pacific Legal Profession. More recently, Bock Eng was ranked by Who’s Who Legal 2023 as a Global Leader for Private Client and Labour & Employment and; a national leader for Private Client and Labour, Employment & Benefits in Southeast Asia. She is also recognised as a “Litigation Star” in the 2023 Benchmark Litigation Guide and was featured in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers for Trusts and Estates; and Litigation.
Bock Eng has also been commended for being "highly rated for understanding the sensitivities of the subject matter as well as for being very approachable and personable" by The Legal 500: Asia Pacific – The Client's Guide to the Asia Pacific Legal Profession. Bock Eng's clients have also praised her on Client Choice: Recognised for Litigation as "her advice takes into consideration the legal angle as well as the commercial aspect of the issues involved", "she articulates her points of view lucidly and is persuasive in convincing the Judges to follow her arguments through the case" and "the best part of her is her assistance in facilitating out-of-court settlements with litigants successfully, rather than the cases going to trial which are usually protracted and costly."
Contact Details
- d+65 6416 8108
- f+65 6532 5722
- ebockeng.sim@wongpartnership.com
Qualifications
National University of Singapore (LL.M., MBA, LL.B., Hons.)