The original dispute involved a freight and logistics company, Transpole, who commenced a SIAC arbitration against SBS Holdings (" SBS "), a Japanese-owned logistics company, alleging breach of contract. Transpole was funded by Tomorrow Sales Agency (" TSA ") who, crucially, was not a party to the arbitration agreement or the arbitral proceedings. In December 2019, a SIAC tribunal dismissed Transpole's claims and ordered them to pay SBS US$1 million in adverse costs. When Transpole failed to satisfy this award, SBS sought payment of the awarded sum from TSA, claiming that TSA had not merely funded the proceedings, but had in fact substantially controlled it. As a result, SBS argued that TSA was subject to both the arbitration and the award itself.