On 26 and 27 October 2020, I spoke at the two-day webinar organised by the Companies Commission of Malaysia Training Academy. I was joined by Norhaslinda Salleh of the Companies Commission of Malaysia, Khoo Poh Poh of Ernst & Young and Jimmy Ng of Chooi & Co + Cheang & Ariff.
We covered a range of restructuring and insolvency topics. There were some interesting facts shared as well. Continue reading
Lee Shih and Huey Lynn write about the Singapore decision on the appointment of interim judicial managers.
The Singapore High Court in Re KS Energy Ltd and another matter [2020] SGHC 198 granted an order for the appointment of interim judicial managers (IJM) over two companies upon the application by a creditor.
This decision is useful in setting out the principles for the appointment of interim judicial managers. This decision is also persuasive for Malaysian law as Malaysia’s judicial management provisions are modelled after Singapore. Continue reading
The High Court case of Afandi bin Hussain v Global Advanced Broadband Solutions (M) Sdn Bhd & 3 others (grounds of judgment dated 23 September 2020) dealt with the company law issue concerning resignation and appointment of directors. While the decision dealt with other facts, I only focus on the issue concerning the simultaneous resignation and appointment of a director. Continue reading
Lee Shih and Nicole Phung write about a Singapore Court of Appeal case on the Riddick undertaking and on the proposed guidelines for the breadth of Anton Piller search orders.
The Singapore Court of Appeal in the recent case of Lim Suk Ling Priscilla and another v Amber Compounding Pharmacy Pte Ltd and another [2020] SGCA 76 dealt with the prospective and retrospective release of the Riddick undertaking for disclosed documents. The Courts will undertake a multifactorial balancing exercise.
The Riddick undertaking draws its name from the English case of Riddick v Thames Board Mills [1977] QB 881. Where a party to litigation is ordered to produce documents, the discovering party is under an implied undertaking to not use the produced documents other than for pursuing the action. Therefore, the party who has been provided access to the documents cannot use the documents for any collateral or ulterior purpose.
The rationale for the Riddick undertaking is that public interest requires full and complete disclosure in the interest of justice. But, the production of documents by court order is an intrusion of privacy. This principle strikes a balance between these two interests. The court can release the Riddick undertaking if there are cogent and persuasive reasons. Continue reading
Malaysia’s Covid-19 Bill (the full name being the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Bill) was tabled for first reading in the Dewan Rakyat (the lower house) of Parliament on 12 August 2020. I had written about the Covid-19 Bill here. One important measure is to provide relief for inability to perform contractual obligations for the seven categories of contracts. This applies from 18 March 2020 to 31 December 2020. On this aspect, I set out five weaknesses or ambiguities in the Covid-19 Bill.
Malaysia has tabled its Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Bill (Covid-19 Bill) in Parliament. The Bill states that it will have retrospective effect from 18 March 2020. This Covid-19 Bill and the eventual Act may alleviate some of the contractual and other issues that arose from the COVID-19 pandemic and Malaysia’s movement control restrictions.
However, with this Bill only being passed sometime in August 2020, is this a case of too little, too late? We will have to see whether Malaysia’s Covid-19 Bill can help businesses and companies.
I touch on five key areas in the Covid-19 Bill.
