Govintharasah Ramanathan

Govintharasah Ramanathan is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Gurbani & Co LLC. He is admitted to practice in the Singapore Bar since 1989 after graduating from National University of Singapore (NUS) with Honours. He has completed the CIARB Fellowship and Award Writing Course (2006).

Career Highlights

Practising primarily as a litigation and arbitration lawyer and arbitrator since 1989. Engaged mainly as lead Counsel in civil litigation, international arbitration and occasionally as Arbitrator involving disputes in insurance, including marine insurance, cross-border, commercial and personal investments, infrastructure construction projects (power plants, hydroelectric dams oil rigs), shipbuilding, rig construction-sales and purchase, disputes related to carriage of goods by sea, air, road, freight forwarding, ship sales and purchase, chartering, all types of shipping casualties (sinkings, groundings/collisions, piracy, fire), personal injuries and death.

Advising on and engaged in the cross-border enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in various jurisdictions in the ASEAN countries, India, and China through a well-established network of effective correspondent firms.

Adjunct practice involving advising on corporate and commercial matters involving the setting up of new business projects, companies, joint ventures, acquisitions of businesses and other corporate ventures and agreements involving start-ups in South East Asian countries, China, and India. Engaged in the negotiation, structuring and drafting of all types of commercial agreements, including applications for business licences. Have in the last 3 decades been working with various law firms from all over the world, including UK, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in cross-border deals and dispute resolution.

Regularly presenting and speaking at conferences for various arbitral institutions, the Asian Law Business (ALB), Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA), World Congress of Ocean, Belt & Road Forums on various topics including exclusion and limitation of liability in shipping contracts, remoteness of damages, general average, maritime piracy, insurance and marine insurance, cross-border investments, and structuring. Founding member of the Belt & Road International Lawyers Association (BRILA).

Contributed on Singapore maritime law, shipping, insurance, reinsurance and marine insurance to Chambers and Partners Global Practice Guide 2021, Insurance and Reinsurance Global Guide Thomson Reuters and Comite Maritime International (CMI) and Asialaw Client Service Excellence Ratings 3rd Edition.

• Member of Panel of Arbitrators of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Singapore)
• Member of Panel of Arbitrators of the Thailand Arbitration Center (THAC)
• Senior Fellow Member on the Panel of Arbitrators of the Bali International Arbitration & Mediation Center (BIAMC)
• Member of Panel of Arbitrators of the Singapore Law Society Arbitration Scheme
• Member of Fellow Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (FSIArb)
• Member of Panel of Representative Neutral, Mediator, Arbitrator, Negotiator
• Ombudsman of the Federation of Integrated Conflict Management (FICM) and the Mediation and Conciliation Network (MCN)
• Committee Member of Maritime Law Association of Singapore, Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA)
• Associate Member of Asia Pacific Institute of Experts (APIEx)