liquidation

Case Update: Federal Court Decides On Duty of Liquidator of a Wound-up Listed Company

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Nathalie Ker writes an update on the Federal Court decision on the duties of a liquidator of a listed company.

The Federal Court has now issued its grounds of judgment (dated 31 March 2022) allowing the appeal of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (Bursa) in Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad v Mohd Afrizan bin Husain (Appeal No.: 02(f)-39-07/2021(W)). The grounds of judgment may be found here. The Federal Court reversed the earlier Court of Appeal decision.

The Court addressed two main issues. First, whether Bursa was obliged to immediately delist a listed company upon the company being served with a winding up order (pursuant to Rule 16.11(2) of the ACE Market Listing Requirements (AMLR)). Second, the duty of a liquidator as the person in control of the management of a listed corporation to ensure compliance with the Listing Requirements. Continue reading →

Top 5 Restructuring and Insolvency Cases in Malaysia 2021

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Our guest writer, Nathalie Ker, writes on the top 5 restructuring and insolvency cases in 2021.

We continue the Top 5 cases series with the top five restructuring and insolvency cases in Malaysia for the year 2021. You can also read last year’s 2020 edition.

This year’s cases cover schemes of arrangement, judicial management and winding up.

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Case Update: Who Has to Pay the Liquidator’s Remuneration When Winding Up Reversed?

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The Singapore Court of Appeal in AnAn Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd v VTB Bank (Public Joint Stock Company) [2021] SGCA 112 dealt with an important and novel area of winding up law. If a winding up order is subsequently reversed or set aside, who should pay for all the winding up expenses, including the liquidator’s fees?

While this is a Singapore decision, it would be persuasive in Malaysia as our laws are similar. The aim of this update is to focus on this key issue and set out the takeaway points to apply in a Malaysian context.

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Case Update: Priority of An Admiralty Claim Versus Insolvency

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Wong Chee Chien writes a case update on when an admiralty claim trumps insolvency.

More often than not, a creditor with an admiralty claim would take steps to arrest a ship or vessel of the debtor, for the purposes of selling it so that the proceeds of sale will be held as pre-judgment security for the creditor.

However, if the debtor subsequently goes into liquidation, what happens to the proceeds of sale from the arrested vessel? Should the proceeds be paid to the creditor, or should they be distributed to all unsecured creditors pari passu? These issues were dealt with by the High Court in Dan Bunkering (Singapore) Pte Ltd v The Owners of the Ship or Vessel “PDZ Mewah” & Anor (see grounds of judgment dated 9 August 2021).

Although this decision deals with several issues, this case update focuses on the question of whether the creditor’s admiralty claim trumps the insolvency regime of pari passu distribution among unsecured creditors. Continue reading →

Case Update: Mandatory for Bursa Malaysia to De-List a Wound Up Company

Lee ShihLeave a comment

[Edit: The Federal Court, in its grounds of judgment dated 31 March 2022, has overturned this Court of Appeal decision. Bursa Malaysia does have discretion on the de-listing of a wound-up company.]

The Court of Appeal in Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad v Mohd Afrizan bin Husain (grounds of judgment dated 2 July 2021) ruled that once a winding up order was made against a public listed company, Bursa Malaysia must de-list that company from the stock exchange.

The case dealt with interesting issues between the interplay of a liquidator’s role under the Companies Act and where the liquidated company is also subject to Bursa Malaysia’s Listing Requirement.

The Federal Court has granted leave to appeal against this Court of Appeal decision.

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Case Update: Court Will be Slow to Second Guess Liquidator’s Decision on Proof of Debt

Lee ShihLeave a comment

The Court of Appeal in its grounds of judgment dated 18 March 2021 in Sunrise Megaway Sdn Bhd (in liquidation) v Kathryn Ma Wai Fong set out the principles when there is a challenge on a liquidator’s decision to admit or reject a proof of debt. Exceptional circumstances are required to second guess the liquidator’s decision.
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