ANZ Bank v De Saram: Summary Judgment Appeal on Loan Agreements & Counterclaim

Australian and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ Bank) sued Joseph Shihara Rukshan De Saram for defaulting on two residential property term loan agreements. The High Court dismissed De Saram's appeal against the Assistant Registrar's decision to grant summary judgment to ANZ Bank. De Saram's counterclaim for damages was also dismissed, with the court finding no triable issues to warrant a full trial. The court ordered De Saram to pay costs for the appeal.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Appeal Dismissed

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Appeal against summary judgment for ANZ Bank over defaulted loan agreements. The court dismissed the appeal and counterclaim, finding no triable issues.

1.7 Decision Date

26 November 2014

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Australian and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd	Plaintiff, Respondent	Corporation	Summary Judgment Upheld	Won	Lee Hui Min of Harry Elias Partnership LLP Toh Wei Yi of Harry Elias Partnership LLP
Joseph Shihara Rukshan De Saram	Defendant, Appellant	Individual	Appeal Dismissed	Lost	Gopal Perumal of Gopal Perumal & Co

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Belinda Ang Saw Ean	Judge	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Lee Hui Min	Harry Elias Partnership LLP
Toh Wei Yi	Harry Elias Partnership LLP
Gopal Perumal	Gopal Perumal & Co

4. Facts

The Bank granted two residential property term loan agreements to the Borrower.
The Borrower defaulted on interest payments under the Facility Agreements.
The Bank terminated the Facility Agreements due to the Borrower's default.
The Bank sued the Borrower to recover monies due and owing.
The Borrower alleged delays, undervaluation, and improper administration by the Bank.
The Borrower counterclaimed for damages due to the Bank's alleged breaches.

5. Formal Citations

Australian and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd v Joseph Shihara Rukshan De Saram, Suit No 1029 of 2012 (Registrar's Appeal No 106 of 2014), [2014] SGHC 250

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2010-05-07	Bank offered first Residential Property Term Loan Facility
2010-06-09	Borrower accepted first loan facility
2010-07-09	Borrower drew down HK$3,994,239.20
2010-09-14	Borrower emailed bank regarding second loan facility
2010-10-11	Bank offered second Residential Property Term Loan Facility
2010-10-12	Borrower accepted second loan facility
2010-10-15	Borrower drew down AU$464,000
2012-07-12	Interest repayments due
2012-07-13	Bank sent numerous reminders for payment
2012-08-27	Bank issued two Notices of Default
2012-09-06	Bank waited for payment
2012-09-10	Bank terminated the Facility Agreements
2012-12-04	Bank sued the Borrower
2014-03-14	Bank obtained summary judgment against the Borrower
2014-07-25	Borrower’s appeal dismissed
2014-11-27	Decision Date

7. Legal Issues

Breach of Contract
- Outcome: The court found that the Borrower breached the Facility Agreements by failing to make timely payments, and the Bank was entitled to terminate the agreements.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Failure to make timely payments
  - Wrongful termination of facility agreements
Summary Judgment
- Outcome: The court upheld the summary judgment, finding no bona fide triable issues and no basis for equitable set-off.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
  - Existence of triable issues
  - Right to equitable set-off
Equitable Set-Off
- Outcome: The court found that the Borrower's counterclaim was not closely connected to the Bank's claims and did not warrant equitable set-off.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Close connection between claim and counterclaim

8. Remedies Sought

Monetary Damages
Recovery of outstanding loan amounts

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Contract
Recovery of Debt

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation
Banking Litigation

11. Industries

Banking
Finance

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Abdul Salam Asanaru Pillai (trading as South Kerala Cashew Exporters) v Nomanbhoy & Sons Pte Ltd	High Court	Yes	[2007] 2 SLR(R) 856	Singapore	Cited for the principle of equitable set-off and the degree of connection required between claims and counterclaims.
Miles v Bull	N/A	Yes	[1969] 1 QB 258	England and Wales	Cited regarding whether there ought to be a trial of the claim.
Lady Anne Tennant, The v Associated Newspapers Group Ltd	N/A	Yes	[1979] FSR 298	N/A	Cited regarding reasons for a trial.
Concentrate Engineering Pte Ltd v United Malayan Banking Corp Bhd	N/A	Yes	[1990] 1 SLR(R) 465	Singapore	Cited regarding reasons for a trial.
Silberline Asia Pacific Inc v Lim Yong Wah Allen and Others	High Court	Yes	[2006] SGHC 27	Singapore	Cited for factors to consider when ordering a stay of execution of a summary judgment.
PH Grace Pte Ltd and others v American Express International Banking Corp	N/A	Yes	[1985-1986] SLR(R) 979	Singapore	Cited regarding stay of execution of judgment pending trial of counterclaim.
RBS Coutts Bank Ltd v Shishir Tarachand Kothari	High Court	Yes	[2009] SGHC 273	Singapore	Cited regarding the effect of a conclusive evidence clause.
Bache & Co (London) Ltd v Banque Vernes et Commercials De Paris SA	N/A	Yes	[1973] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 437	England and Wales	Cited regarding the rationale underlying the legal acceptance of conclusive evidence clauses.
Bangkok Bank Ltd v Cheng Lip Kwong	N/A	Yes	[1989] SLR 1154	Singapore	Cited regarding the rationale underlying the legal acceptance of conclusive evidence clauses.
Standard Chartered Bank v Neocorp International Ltd	N/A	Yes	[2005] 2 SLR(R) 345	Singapore	Cited regarding challenges that may be brought regardless of a conclusive evidence clause.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2014 Rev Ed)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Facility Agreements
Residential Property Term Loan
Cost of Funds
Default
Summary Judgment
Equitable Set-Off
Conclusive Evidence Clause
Interest Rate
Cross Currency Loan

15.2 Keywords

loan agreement
default
summary judgment
counterclaim
banking
mortgage
interest
ANZ Bank

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Summary Judgement	90
Debt Recovery	85
Banking Law	80
Banking and Finance	75
Contract Law	70
Property Law	50

16. Subjects

Banking
Loans
Debt Recovery
Civil Litigation