Selvam LLC Resists a Taking of Account for Shares Held on Trust in Recent Singapore High Court Matter

Selvam LLC, the trial department of Duane Morris & Selvam LLP in Singapore, recently prevailed in resisting a taking of account by Cost Engineers (SEA) Pte Ltd. The High Court decision Cost Engineers (SEA) Pte Ltd v Chan Siew Lun [2015] SGHC 262 was issued on 19 October 2015.

The matter arose from a previous litigation, wherein the parties consented to a judgment. The consent judgment stated that the Defendant, Mr Chan, held shares in Tri-Nexus Pte Ltd on trust for the Plaintiff, Cost Engineers (SEA) Pte Ltd. There was to be a taking of account for all profits and dividends of Tri-Nexus.

The Plaintiff took the position that it was entitled to all pay outs of the company and claimed over $1.7 million from the Defendant. The Defendant took the position that nothing was due to the Plaintiff as no dividends had been declared over the years.

Honourable Judge Steven Chong found in favour of the Defendant with the result that no amount had to be paid to the Plaintiff. The case raised interesting legal issues, one of which was whether a consent judgment could give rise to issue estoppel. The Honourable Judge held that issue estoppel could apply to consent judgments, but that it did not arise on the facts.

Director Sarbjit Singh and Associate Director Ho May Kim were assisted by Legal Associates Satinder Singh Pal and Harry Zheng. The reported judgment can be found on the Singapore Law Watch website.

Please contact Ho May Kim at mkho@selvam.com.sg or Harry Zheng at hzheng@selvam.com.sg for more information.

The content of this update is for general information purposes only and is not intended to apply to specific circumstances. The content should not, therefore, be regarded as constituting legal advice and should not be relied on as such.