Arbitration News From Around the World Sean Kelsey (London) ASIA India On 31 December 2015, the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (the “Bill”) received Presidential assent. The Bill was introduced in order to pass into law provisions set out in the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, promulgated by the President of India on 23 October 2015. A full report on this development is included later in this edition. South Korea By its judgment dated 29 October 2015, South Korea’s Supreme Court (the “Supreme Court”) overruled a decision refusing enforcement of a US$35 million ICC award. U.S. private equity group Lone Star Funds (“LSF”) established a joint investment entity, LSF-KDIC Investment Company (the “Company”), with Korea Resolution & Collection (“KR&C”), a subsidiary of the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation. The Company was set up to sell a jointly run logistics terminal in the Korean port of Busan. When the Company failed in its objective, LSF sought its liquidation. A dispute arose between LSF and KR&C in relation to the costs of the liquidation. An award of $35 million— representing half of those costs—was made in 2011 in favour of LSF (the “Award”). But in 2012, Seoul District Court (the “District Court”) refused enforcement of the Award on public policy grounds. Reviewing that decision in 2013, Seoul High Court (the “High Court”) refused enforcement on different grounds, namely that the parties’ agreement did not in fact contain a valid arbitration agreement. The Supreme Court’s ruling overturns the judgment of the High Court and has been 5