lee shih

Ex Parte Appointment of Interim Judicial Manager over Khee San Food Industries

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On 19 November 2021, The Edge reported that the candy manufacturer, Khee San Food Industries Sdn Bhd (KSFI), has been placed under interim judicial management. KSFI is the wholly-owned subsidiary of the public-listed Khee San Bhd.

On 17 November 2021, the Court made an ex parte Order to appoint an interim judicial manager, Datuk Adam Primus Varghese Abdullah of Messrs ADAMPRIMUS, over KSFI. The interim judicial management of KSFI  in turn resulted in Khee San Bhd triggering Practice Note 17 (PN17). PN17 is essentially the financial distress criteria set by Bursa Malaysia Securities. KSFI’s assets account for over half of the total assets of Khee San on a consolidated basis.

I believe this is the first time a financial institution creditor has applied to place the debtor company under judicial management. I set out some of the guiding legal principles and the facts of this case.

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Case Update: Not Mandatory for Proposed Judicial Manager’s Affidavit

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The High Court in Re Federal Power Sdn Bhd (grounds of judgment dated 11 October 2021) granted a judicial management order over a high voltage cable manufacturing company. The Court dealt with the issue of whether the proposed judicial manager candidate must affirm an affidavit in support of the application or not.

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Case Update: Company Constitution Does Not Extend Indemnity for Directors

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The Court of Appeal in Perdana Petroleum Berhad v Tengku Dato’ Ibrahim Petra and others (grounds of judgment dated 15 October 2021) has ruled on a significant company law issue. Whether the company’s constitution alone can give rise to an indemnity by the company in favour of directors or former directors.

This decision will have an impact on company directors, auditors, company secretaries and other officers of the company attempting to rely on the indemnity clause contained in the constitution.

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You Want to be a Commercial Litigator? Here are 10 Tips

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Recently, a young lawyer asked me for advice on how to generally switch practice areas to move into litigation. From my brief advice, I thought it would be useful to set out and expand on my tips. I write this especially from the lens of a commercial litigator.

These tips are shaped by my personal experience. Please feel free to suggest more tips in the comments section and where we can learn from other lawyers’ experiences.

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Case Update: Creditors’ Decision in Liquidation Governed by Majority in Value?

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The High Court in Coca Cola Refreshments Malaysia Sdn Bhd v Leejin Capital Sdn Bhd [2021] MLJU 1700 (grounds of judgment date 6 August 2021) invalidated the appointment of the liquidator in a creditors’ voluntary winding up. The Court ordered that instead, another liquidator candidate be appointed, where that candidate was nominated by a creditor holding a majority in value of the debt of the company.

This decision may cause uncertainty for future creditors’ voluntary winding up as well as other forms of winding up.

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Case Update: High Court Finds that Listed Companies Cannot Apply for Judicial Management

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The High Court in the judicial management application of Re Scomi Group Bhd decided that public listed companies cannot apply for judicial management. Hence, Scomi Group Bhd’s judicial management application was dismissed.

I have updated this article with the full grounds of judgment dated 4 October 2021.

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