Resolution: In Brief The Maldives accedes to the New York Convention On 17 September 2019, the Maldives formally acceded to the New York Convention becoming the 161st state party to the Convention. The Convention will come into force for the Maldives 90 days later on 16 December 2019. The Maldives has not made any declarations, notifications or reservations. 46 States already signed up to the Singapore Convention Last month the Singapore Convention (more formally known as the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation) opened for signature with a record breaking number of first-day signatories for a UN trade convention. The Singapore Convention provides an effective mechanism for the enforcement of mediated settlement agreements in the international commercial arena, adopting the same approach as the highly successful New York Arbitration Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention), which was concluded in 1958. The Singapore Convention also provides for similar limited grounds for refusing enforcement and permits a state to become a signatory subject to a reciprocity reservation. Broadly, the Singapore Convention is to international commercial mediation what the New York Convention is to international commercial arbitration. See the UNCITRAL website for an up-to-date list of signatories. See also our six-part series on the Singapore Convention which considers in detail the question of whether the Convention is a panacea for trade in the Trans-Pacific Region or just one piece of the puzzle. You will find part three of the series in this issue of ReSolution. Earlier parts can be accessed in Resolution in Brief online. Be sure to follow us on social media to get the latest updates.