Hin Leong liquidator succeeds in High Court bid to wind up Yuantai Fuel Trading  

[SINGAPORE] The High Court granted a winding-up order against local bunker firm Yuantai Fuel Trading on Friday (Feb 13). This is the latest development arising from the liquidation of collapsed oil trading giant Hin Leong Trading.

The application, filed on Jan 15 by Hin Leong’s court-appointed liquidators from PwC, follows a landmark 2024 civil judgement in which Hin Leong founder Lim Oon Kuin – better known as OK Lim – and his children were ordered to pay US$3.5 billion to liquidators and top creditor HSBC.

During the Friday morning hearing, Yuantai Fuel Trading did not raise any objections to the winding-up order.

Justice Kwek Mean Luck ruled in favour of appointing Lai Seng Kwoon of Reliance 3P Advisory as the liquidator of Yuantai. The judge noted that due to the various insolvencies arising from the Hin Leong case, the decision to appoint an alternative liquidator was made to avoid a conflict of interest.

Connections to the case 

In 2023, The Business Times reported that Yuantai Fuel Trading was mentioned during Lim’s cross-examination over his role in the company.

Prosecutors had questioned Lim on his involvement in certain trades between Hin Leong and Yuantai Fuel Trading, as well as physical fuel trading and delivery firm Daxin Marine, in 2018 and 2019.

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Based on Yuantai’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority filings from 2023, the group’s director and majority shareholder is Tan Aik Hock, who also currently serves as chief executive of Daxin Marine.

The winding-up of Yuantai is one of several legal actions initiated by Hin Leong’s liquidators, represented by Drew & Napier, to recoup losses for a pool of over 20 bank creditors – led by HSBC – following the 2020 collapse of the oil empire.