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PT Tugu Pratama Indonesia v Citibank N.A. [2018] HKCFI 2233

14 November 2018

In PT Tugu Pratama Indonesia v Citibank N.A. [2018] HKCFI 2233 (12 October 2018), the Court of First Instance clarified the banker-customer duty in relation to the bank’s role as a paying agent. The Court also decided on a number of points concerning the defence of limitation. The facts and decision The Plaintiff was the largest insurance company in Indonesia in the 1990s. It was founded in November 1981 by... Click here to read more

Scheme of Arrangement and Bondholders’ Votes – Split Voting and Voting as Contingent Creditors

10 November 2018

Recent Hong Kong, Singapore and English cases have converged and re-confirmed how bondholders vote in schemes of arrangement where the bonds are issued in global form. The position in summary is as follows: (a) if the bond trustee votes, a split-vote approach respecting the underlying beneficial bondholders’ wishes is to be adopted such that: (i) for the purposes of the headcount test, the trustee’s... Click here to read more

The Competition Tribunal Exercising Firm Grip On Case Management Powers

02 November 2018

The Competition Tribunal in the recent case of Competition Commission v. W. Hing Construction Company Limited & Ors [2018] HKCT 6 exercised robust case management power. It dismissed the 4th Respondent’s last minute application at the PTR for what was “virtually a wholesale substitution” of the original pleaded Response and the introduction of three proposed new witness statements in support of the new case. The Tribunal held that notwithstanding the... Click here to read more

Cross-Border Scheme of Arrangement for Secured Noteholders: Re Mongolian Mining Corporation

11 September 2018

Re Mongolian Mining Corporation [2018] HKCFI 2035 - the latest case on restructuring foreign companies' foreign law-governed debts involving DVC's José-Antonio Maurellet SC, Yang-Wahn Hew and Jason Yu. Read on to find out whether there was sufficient connection between the Scheme and Hong Kong. In Re Mongolian Mining Corporation [2018] HKCFI 2035, the court sanctioned a scheme of arrangement which was part of a larger restructuring exercise involving a Cayman scheme... Click here to read more

Hong Kong Provisional Liquidation Meets Singapore Moratorium: Re CW Advanced Technologies Limited

20 July 2018

In a ground-breaking decision, the Hong Kong Court in Re CW Advanced Technologies Limited [2018] HKCFI 1705 explains: (a) the interface between the Hong Kong provisional liquidation regime and Singapore’s new insolvency regime; and (b) how both regimes could work in tandem to help restructure a Singapore-based pan-Asian business group. Background The matter concerns the CW Group which... Click here to read more

What is the difference between personal and corporate wrongs?

06 July 2018

Ho Yew Kong v Sakae Holdings Ltd [2018] SGCA 33 In the very recent judgment of the Singaporean Court of Appeal (“SGCA”) in Ho Yew Kong v Sakae Holdings Ltd [2018] SGCA 33, the Court tackled the thorny issue of the relationship between “oppression actions” brought by a member of a company in his personal capacity (similar to unfair prejudice petitions in Hong Kong) and derivative actions brought by... Click here to read more

Big Island Construction (HK) Ltd v Wu Yi Development Co Ltd [2018] HKCFI 899

29 June 2018

Directors be aware of personal liability for costs Big Island Construction (HK) Ltd v Wu Yi Development Co Ltd [2018] HKCFI 899 Following their ultimate success in the Court of Final Appeal ((2015) 18 HKCFAR 364), the Wu Yi parties applied to the Court of First Instance to make Ben Lee, a director of Big Island Construction (HK) Ltd (the “Non-party”), to be personally liable for their costs in, inter alia, the... Click here to read more

Recognition of Foreign Restructuring Plan: Bermuda Pushing the Common Law Envelope in Seadrill

17 April 2018

In Re Seadrill Drilling [2018] SC (Bda) 30 Com (5 April 2018), the Bermuda court recognised and enforced a US Chapter 11 reorganisation plan in relation to Bermuda-incorporated companies. The court’s reasoning appears to sit somewhat uncomfortably with the UK Supreme Court decision in Rubin v Eurofinance [2012] UKSC 46; [2013] 1 AC 236 and the Privy Council decision in Singularis Holdings v PricewaterhouseCoopers [2014] UKPC 36; [2015] AC 1675. It is doubtful if the Hong Kong court would follow the Bermuda court’s approach. The facts and... Click here to read more

The Court of Final Appeal laid down a definitive ruling on the meaning of malice in the context of the qualified privilege defence

10 April 2018

Jonathan Lu & Others v Paul Chan Mo-Po & Another [2018] HKCFA 11 In this important recent decision, in unanimously allowing the Plaintiffs’/Appellants’ appeal, the Court of Final Appeal laid down a definitive ruling on the meaning of malice in the context of the qualified privilege defence. The judgment was given by Lord Reed NPJ, with whom Ma CJ, Tang and Fok PJJ and Chan NPJ agreed. The Court agreed... Click here to read more

HK Landmark Judgment: Arbitration Trumps Winding-Up Petition

06 April 2018

Lasmos Limited v. Southwest Pacific Bauxite (HK) Limited [2018] HKCFI 426 On 2 March 2018, Harris J handed down a landmark judgment holding that, where a creditor presents a winding-up petition based on a disputed debt which is covered by an arbitration agreement between the creditor and the company, the court would generally dismiss the petition. In so holding, Harris J brought Hong Kong law in line with the position... Click here to read more

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