We would like to highlight several cases in this July issue of ONC Corporate Disputes and Insolvency Quarterly.

Of particular interest to insolvency practitioners would be the Hong Kong case Wan Po Jun Mary Paulin v Au Yeung Yee Man, representative of the estate of Au Yeung Wing Hong HCA 1478/2009. In this case, the court reaffirmed the important principle that the bankrupt’s estate, which vests in the trustee in bankruptcy upon commencement of bankruptcy, will NOT reverse back to the bankrupt upon the automatic discharge of the bankruptcy order. Another interesting case is Foo Tsing also known as Nelson Foo v Roeders Geschaeftsfuehrungs GMHB also known as Rӧders Geschӓftsführungs GMBH and Another HCCW68/2016, in which Harris J refused to grant a minority shareholder an injunction to prevent the majority from removing him as a director, notwithstanding that the court recognized that there existed mutual intention that the minority shareholder shall participate in the management of the company. In the English decision of Schlosberg v Avonwick Holdings Ltd and others [2016] EWHC 1001 (Ch), the English High Court held that a bankrupt retains legal professional privilege in documents delivered to the trustee in bankruptcy. Hence, the trustee in bankruptcy has no right to waive the privilege.  Last but not least, in the Singaporean case of Living the Link Pte Ltd v Tan Lay Tin Tina [2016] SGHC 67, the High Court of Singapore held a company director to be personally liable for procuring unfair preferences transactions, for she owes a fiduciary duty to take into account the interests of the company’s creditors when a company is insolvent, or near insolvency. The case resonates with the Court of Final Appeal decision in Moulin Global Eyecare Holdings Ltd v Olivia Lee Sin Mei (2014) 17 HKCFAR 466, where the CFA allowed a claim to proceed against a director, who procured early repayment to a creditor, on the basis of breach of fiduciary duties.