The first overseas office of an international insolvency federation will be launched here in the coming week, in the lead-up to a signing ceremony and conference for a United Nations treaty on mediation.

Insol, a London-based umbrella body for restructuring and insolvency associations, will launch its Asian arm here on Aug 5, ahead of the signing ceremony of the Singapore Convention on Mediation, the first UN treaty to be named after Singapore.

The treaty opens for signature on Aug 7, and the Insol branch launch is part of a series of events from this Friday that will commemorate the convention.

Other planned events include conferences and the grand opening of Maxwell Chambers Suites. Insol's Asia Hub will be housed within Maxwell Chambers Suites.

In a release yesterday, the Ministry of Law said Insol's decision to locate here is testament to Singapore's growing profile as an "influential restructuring and insolvency jurisdiction".

"This has not occurred by happenstance; being part of Singapore's long-term and broad efforts to strengthen Singapore as an international centre for cross-border debt restructuring," said the ministry.

On Aug 6, law professionals and the arbitration authorities will convene for a conference about arbitration in the Asia-Pacific, which is held by the International Bar Association, an organisation for lawyers, bar associations and law societies.

The new annual event will take place at Maxwell Chambers this year, and the inaugural conference will feature 17 speakers, including Professor Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, the International Council for Commercial Arbitration's president.

Another conference on the UN treaty will be held at Shangri-La Hotel on Aug 7. Ministers and senior officials will also participate in a round-table session chaired by Law Minister K. Shanmugam.

The official launch of Maxwell Chambers Suites, an extension of the dispute resolution complex Maxwell Chambers, will take place on Aug 8.

The new wing will house 20 dispute resolution firms and 11 international institutions.

To mark the signing of the UN treaty, Mr Shanmugam and the UN's Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Mr Stephen Mathias, will jointly name an orchid.

The convention will be the first to have a flower named after it.

More than 1,500 delegates are expected to attend the signing ceremony and related events.

Invited ministers will attend the upcoming National Day Parade on Aug 9 at the Padang.