Restructuring & Insolvency Academic Forum (RIAF)
The Restructuring & Insolvency Academic Forum (RIAF) is a regional academic initiative that advances restructuring and insolvency scholarship, comparative research and policy dialogue across Asia. It is jointly led by INSOL Asia Hub and the Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS) at the National University of Singapore, with the support of the INSOL International Academic Group and the Insolvency Law Academy (India). Each edition is hosted in partnership with a leading university.
Academics, emerging scholars, judges, policymakers, regulators and practitioners from across Asia Pacific and beyond come together at RIAF to examine contemporary restructuring and insolvency issues through comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives. The Forum provides a platform for the exchange of ideas, encourages collaboration across jurisdictions, and supports the development of restructuring and insolvency scholarship and reform throughout the region.
RIAF forms part of the broader work of INSOL Asia Hub to strengthen restructuring and insolvency systems across Asia Pacific through regional engagement, education, research and thought leadership.
RIAF 2025 – Singapore
The inaugural Restructuring & Insolvency Academic Forum (RIAF) was held on 6–7 November 2025 at the National University of Singapore. Jointly organised by INSOL Asia Hub and the Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS), in association with the EW Barker Centre for Law and Business, with the support of the INSOL International Academic Group and the Insolvency Law Academy (India), it was INSOL's first academic forum in Asia, establishing a regional platform for academics, judges, practitioners and students to explore contemporary restructuring and insolvency issues from comparative, regional and interdisciplinary perspectives.
The two-day program featured 33 presentations covering restructuring and insolvency issues, including cross-border insolvency, arbitration and insolvency, technology, corporate restructuring, and broader commercial, policy and societal considerations. The Forum attracted particularly strong academic engagement from China and India. Professor Li Shuguang delivered the special lecture, Recent Developments in the Amendments and Practice of the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, examining recent legislative developments in the broader context of China's evolving restructuring and insolvency landscape.
Students and early-career researchers presented alongside established academics, judges and practitioners. A dedicated undergraduate panel featured papers on contemporary restructuring and insolvency issues from comparative and policy perspectives.
The keynote address, Modified Universalism in a Fractured World: Fault Lines, Fissures and the Future, was delivered by The Honourable Justice Kannan Ramesh of the Singapore Supreme Court. The address examined the pressures confronting modified universalism amid growing geopolitical and economic fragmentation, arguing that while the doctrine remains the most workable foundation for cross-border insolvency, it must continue to evolve to meet new legal and commercial realities.
Event Report | Speech by Justice Kannan Ramesh
RIAF 2026 – Bangkok, Thailand
Hosted by the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University, Bangkok, RIAF 2026 was held on 18–19 June 2026 . Co-organised by INSOL Asia Hub and the Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS), in collaboration with Thammasat University, and supported by the INSOL International Academic Group and the Insolvency Law Academy (India), the Forum built on the inaugural edition in Singapore and brought together academics, judges, practitioners, policymakers, students and emerging researchers to examine emerging developments in restructuring and insolvency law from comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives.
Recognising the growing importance of asset tracing and recovery in corporate insolvencies, RIAF 2026 included a dedicated call for papers drawing on themes identified in the UNCITRAL Toolkit on Asset Tracing and Recovery in Insolvency Proceedings. The selected papers examined comparative approaches across jurisdictions, funding of recovery proceedings, cross-border and private international law issues, and the tracing and recovery of digital assets.
Across the Forum ,18 scholarly works were presented by authors representing 11 jurisdictions. Discussions spanned insolvency and technology, digital assets, arbitration and insolvency, corporate group insolvencies, cross-border restructuring, and evolving approaches to recognition, cooperation and enforcement, while also examining the broader commercial, institutional and policy issues shaping restructuring and insolvency systems across Asia.
The integration of presentations by INSOL Asia Hub interns and a National University of Singapore undergraduate into the main academic programme alongside established academics, judges, practitioners and policymakers reflected RIAF's commitment to supporting student participation and emerging scholarship.
The keynote address, Thailand's Insolvency Reform Experience and the Future of Cross-Border and Digital-Age Restructuring, was delivered by Professor Wisit Wisitsora-at, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand and Chairman of the Electronic Transactions Development Agency. Drawing on Thailand's reform experience, the address highlighted the implications of digital transformation, artificial intelligence and cross-border developments for restructuring and insolvency.
The Forum also featured a special lecture by Sumant Batra, President of the Insolvency Law Academy (India), Tracing and Recovering Assets in Insolvency of Smaller Enterprises. Challenging conventional assumptions that asset tracing is principally a large-enterprise issue, the lecture examined the distinctive obstacles encountered in SME insolvencies and considered practical approaches to improving asset recovery.
Event Report | Special Lecture by Sumant Batra
RIAF 2027 – Sydney, Australia
The third Restructuring & Insolvency Academic Forum (RIAF) will be held in Sydney, Australia, in May 2027. Hosted by the Ross Parsons Centre of Commercial, Corporate and Taxation law at Sydney Law School, The University of Sydney , and jointly organised by INSOL Asia Hub and the Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS), National University of Singapore, the Forum will continue to advance restructuring and insolvency scholarship, comparative research and regional dialogue.A call for abstracts has been issued for RIAF 2027, inviting submissions from academics, practitioners and emerging scholars. Further information, including the Forum themes, submission guidelines, important dates, funding support and publication opportunities, is available in the Call for Abstracts.