Re Gulf Pacific Shipping Ltd (in creditors' voluntary liquidation) and others
| Jurisdiction | Singapore |
| Judge | Aedit Abdullah JC |
| Judgment Date | 30 December 2016 |
| Neutral Citation | [2016] SGHC 287 |
| Court | High Court (Singapore) |
| Docket Number | Originating Summons No 1139 of 2016 |
| Published date | 04 January 2017 |
| Year | 2016 |
| Hearing Date | 29 December 2016 |
| Plaintiff Counsel | Ashok Kumar, Samuel Ng and Kenneth Lim (BlackOak LLC) |
| Subject Matter | Insolvency law,Cross-border insolvency,Recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings |
| Citation | [2016] SGHC 287 |
These are brief grounds of decision in respect of an
The company in question, Gulf Pacific Shipping Limited (“the Company”), was incorporated and registered in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the People’s Republic of China. It was the wholly-owned subsidiary of STX Pan Ocean (Hong Kong) Co Ltd, (“STX HK”). The Company and STX HK were part of the Pan Ocean Group, which was involved in shipping of dry bulk cargo. The ultimate holding company, Pan Ocean Co Limited, a Korean entity, was eventually put into rehabilitation by the Seoul District Court in 2013. STX HK itself was ordered to be wound up compulsorily by the High Court of Hong Kong in November 2013. One of the liquidators of STX HK was appointed a director of the Company in 2016. In 2016, the Company was put into creditors’ voluntary winding up, with the appointment of the two applicants, Wong Teck Meng and Stephen Briscoe, as liquidators of the Company. The only claims lodged in the liquidation were by STX HK and the Hong Kong Commissioner of Inland Revenue.
The Company appeared to have had a bank account with ABN AMRO Bank NV Singapore Branch (“ABN Singapore”). The account was apparently closed in 2013. The applicants sought copies of bank statements from 2011 to 2013. ABN Singapore requested that the liquidators obtain a court order giving sanction to their appointment and request. That request led to the present application for recognition of the liquidators.
The Application The applicants cited a number of decisions in support of their application, including
Here, recognition was sought by liquidators appointed in the place of incorporation; no question in relation to the identification of the common law centre of main interest (“COMI”) thus arose. That COMI would have been Hong Kong in any event as the activities and management of the company were centred in that territory. No prejudice would appear to arise in respect of Singapore persons or entities, as indicated by the supporting affidavit of the Singapore...
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