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SINGAPORE : The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by French lender BNP Paribas against an earlier High Court order, which prevented the bank from winding up Jurong Shipyard, a unit of Sembcorp Marine.
BNP Paribas had wanted to recover some US$51 million which were lost in unauthorised financial transactions by Jurong Shipyard's former finance head Wee Sing Guan.
SembMarine then sought a court injunction against BNP Paribas, which was granted by the High Court.
Jurong Shipyard had argued that the trades were not authorised.
Last November, Jurong Shipyard offered to place the disputed amount of some US$51 million into an escrow account.
It invited BNP Paribas to sue so that all facts relating to the unauthorised transactions can emerge in open court. BNP Paribas did not take up the offer and instead started proceedings to wind up Jurong Shipyard.
In June this year, the High Court ordered a full trial in a case related to the trading losses.
The Appeals Court has now dismissed BNP's appeal and ordered the lender to pay costs. It said BNP should have accepted Jurong Shipyard's offer to recover the disputed amount in court.
Jurong Shipyard said it will put up security for BNP's claim, as it had offered to do a year ago. The security will be cancelled if BNP does not commence a court action within 12 weeks.
BNP said it expects to start proceedings to recover its debt and remains confident of the merits of its position. - CNA/ms
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