Legal

Hong Kong High Court issues bankruptcy order against Brightoil Chairman

Dr Sit Kwong Lam undertook a personal guarantee of over US $30 million in favour of Petrolimex Singapore; however, Brightoil Singapore was unable to repay the debt.

Published

7 years ago

April 15, 2019

Admin

The following article was published by Singapore bunker publication Manifold Times on 15 April 2330 hrs (Singapore time).

The Court of First Instance, the lower court of the High Court of Hong Kong, on Thursday (11 April) issued a bankruptcy order against Dr Sit Kwong Lam, Chairman of Hong Kong-listed Brightoil Petroleum Holdings, according to a legal document seen by Manifold Times.

Petrolimex Singapore presented a bankruptcy petition at the Hong Kong court against Dr Sit when he could not pay a debt totalling over US $30 million (exact: US $30,253,600) under a personal guarantee with a deadline of 30 August 2018.

“There was no application by the Debtor to set aside the statutory demand. There is no issue raised as to service,” said the document.

Brightoil Singapore had difficulty paying goods from Petrolimex Singapore under two invoices dated 23 April 2018.

As such, Dr Sit undertook a personal guarantee in favour of Petrolimex Singapore by confirming payment of the two invoices by 10 July 2018.

Brightoil Singapore, however, failed to make payment of the invoices and on 12 July 2018 entered into an arrangement for payment to be broken down into four portions between 10 August 2018 and 9 November 2018.

“Other than the payment of US$100,000 to the Petitioner, Brightoil Singapore has failed to discharge its payment obligations under the Settlement Agreement,” notes the document.

Lawyers representing Dr Sit opposed the bankruptcy petition on three grounds:

the Court should exercise its discretion to stay or dismiss the Petition due to the existence of an arbitration clause;
there is a bona fide dispute of the Debt on substantial grounds;
there is a reasonable prospect of the underlying debt being paid by Brightoil Singapore within a reasonable time.

Peter Ng, Judge of the Court of First Instance, High Court rejected all three grounds.

“There shall be a usual bankruptcy order against the Debtor Mr Sit Kwong Lam and an order nisi that costs of the Petition, including all costs reserved, if any, be to the Petitioner,” he concluded in the judgement.

The full legal judgement can be viewed in its entirety here.

A chronologically organised list of articles concerning Brightoil’s potential debt reorganization is below:

Published: 15 April, 2019

Winding up

Singapore: Liquidators of East Marine Pte Ltd issues notice of annual meeting

Annual meeting of the company and its creditors will be held at 8 Wilkie Road, #03-08 Wilkie Edge, Singapore 228095 via audio-visual conference on 20 August at 11am.

Published

2 days ago

August 12, 2026

Admin

A notice of annual meeting was issued by liquidators of East Marine Pte Ltd, which is in creditor’s voluntary liquidation, on the Government Gazette on Friday (7 August).

According to the notice, the annual meeting of the company and its creditors will be held at 8 Wilkie Road, #03-08 Wilkie Edge, Singapore 228095 via audio-visual conference on 20 August at 11am.

The purpose of the meeting is to have an account laid before the meeting showing the acts and dealings of the liquidators and the conduct of the winding up in the preceding year.

The following are the details of the liquidators:

Ng Kian Kiat
Yap Hui Li
Liquidators
c/o 8 Wilkie Road
#03-08 Wilkie Edge
Singapore 228095

Photo credit: steve pb from Pixabay
Published: 12 August, 2026

Winding up

Singapore: Annual and final meetings to be held for Asia-Pacific Shipyard Pte Ltd

Annual meeting and the final meeting of the company and its creditors will be held at 8 Wilkie Road, #03-08 Wilkie Edge, Singapore 228095 via audio-visual conference on 9 September.

Published

2 days ago

August 12, 2026

Admin

A notice of annual meeting and final meeting was issued by liquidators of Asia-Pacific Shipyard Pte Ltd, which is in creditor’s voluntary liquidation, on the Government Gazette on Friday (7 August).

According to the notice, the annual meeting and the final meeting of the company and its creditors will be held at 8 Wilkie Road, #03-08 Wilkie Edge, Singapore 228095 via audio-visual conference on 9 September.

The annual meeting will be held at 2pm while the final meeting will be held at 3pm.

The purpose of the meeting is to have an account laid before the meeting showing the acts and dealings of the liquidators and the conduct of the winding up in the preceding year and the manner in which the winding up has been conducted and the property of the company has been disposed of and hearing any explanation that may be given by the liquidators.

The following are the details of the liquidators:

Ng Kian Kiat
Yap Hui Li
Liquidators
c/o 8 Wilkie Road
#03-08 Wilkie Edge
Singapore 228095

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 12 August, 2026

Sanctions

Reed Smith relocates sanctions partner Alex Brandt from London to Singapore

Brandt’s relocation to the city-state is a direct response to increased client demand for sanctions advice in Asia, says law firm.

Published

2 days ago

August 12, 2026

Admin

Reed Smith relocates sanctions partner Alex Brandt from London to Singapore

Global law firm Reed Smith on Tuesday (11 August) announced the relocation of global shipping and sanctions partner Alex Brandt from London to Singapore.

Brandt advises insurers, owners, charterers, brokers, and traders on all aspects of sanctions-related challenges, providing analysis of applicable legislation, assistance with due diligence work, and training.

He has extensive experience of U.S. and UK government investigations, disclosures, and enforcement actions and has been centrally involved in many of the most high-profile designations, seizures, and enforcement actions brought against members of the international shipping community.

Brandt also has wide-ranging experience drafting protective language for transportation, trade and financing contracts, and has worked with major lenders and other organisations to develop best-in-class compliance programmes. He also has sat on a number of BIMCO and other organisations’ drafting committees, assisting in the development of industry standard clauses.

In addition to his role in the global sanctions practice, Brandt routinely advises on contractual and tortious rights and obligations pertaining to a wide range of dry shipping matters, including charterparties, P&I club rules, bills of lading, ship sales and purchases, and shipbuilding.

Brandt has previously spent four years in Reed Smith’s Hong Kong office, where in addition to his dry shipping work, he assisted in a number of casualty investigations and criminal prosecutions arising from major casualties.

Praj Samant, Reed Smith’s Asia-Pacific managing partner, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Alex to the Singapore office, and back to Asia. He is a tremendous talent with a global perspective and commercial outlook, which is an invaluable asset to clients both in the region and beyond.”

Richard Hakes, global chair of Reed Smith’s Transportation Industry Group, said: “Our transportation practice’s commitment to Asia and to our clients based in the region is longstanding and Alex’s relocation is a direct response to the needs of our clients. We have a leading and growing shipping practice across Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore – with a number of new arrivals in the last year. Alex will be joining that team at an exciting time for us, and at a time where there is high regional demand for his complex sanctions advice.”

Brandt added: “I am delighted to be making the move to a region I am very familiar with already. It is clear that our global clients require increased support in the region, and I look forward to working with the regional team here, as well as continuing to collaborate with our market-leading sanctions team globally.”

Photo credit: Reed Smith
Published: 12 August, 2026