PT Bank OCBC NISP Tbk v Emerging Asia Real Estate Fund Pte Ltd: Striking Out, Pleadings Amendment, Breach of Contract

In PT Bank OCBC NISP Tbk v Emerging Asia Real Estate Fund Pte Ltd, the Singapore High Court addressed the plaintiff's application to amend its Statement of Claim in a suit against Emerging Asia Real Estate Fund Pte Ltd for breach of contract. The plaintiff's claim arose from a Deed of Undertaking related to a Facility Agreement with PT Brewin Mesa Sutera. The court allowed the plaintiff's application to amend its Statement of Claim in part, specifically to include Clause 3.1 of the Deed and alternative relief of damages to be assessed, but disallowed the proposed amendment to include an alternative claim of misrepresentation.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

General Division of the High Court

1.2 Outcome

Plaintiff's application to amend the Statement of Claim allowed in part.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Singapore High Court case involving PT Bank OCBC NISP Tbk and Emerging Asia Real Estate Fund Pte Ltd concerning striking out, pleadings amendment, and breach of contract.

1.7 Decision Date

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party NameRoleTypeOutcomeOutcome TypeCounsels
PT Bank OCBC NISP TbkPlaintiffCorporationApplication to amend Statement of Claim allowed in partPartial
Emerging Asia Real Estate Fund Pte LtdDefendantCorporationApplication to amend Statement of Claim allowed in partPartial

3. Judges

Judge NameTitleDelivered Judgment
Kwek Mean LuckJudicial CommissionerYes

4. Counsels

Counsel NameOrganization
Leo Cheng SuanInfinitus Law Corporation
Lee Shu XianInfinitus Law Corporation
Teh Ee DonInfinitus Law Corporation
Alston YeongProvidence Law Asia LLC
Nawaz KamilProvidence Law Asia LLC

4. Facts

  1. Plaintiff entered into a Facility Agreement with PT Brewin for IDR 833,000,000,000.
  2. Defendant is a 49% shareholder in PT Brewin.
  3. Defendant entered into a Deed of Undertaking with the plaintiff.
  4. PT Brewin defaulted on its loan payment obligations.
  5. Plaintiff issued a demand letter to the defendant for payment of IDR 207,075,657,485.
  6. Plaintiff applied to amend its Statement of Claim to include Clause 3.1 of the Deed.
  7. A Homologation Judgment was given in Indonesia deferring PT Brewin’s payment obligations.

5. Formal Citations

  1. PT Bank OCBC NISP Tbk v Emerging Asia Real Estate Fund Pte Ltd, Suit No 364 of 2021(Summons No 5043 of 2021), [2022] SGHC 56

6. Timeline

DateEvent
Plaintiff entered into a Facility Agreement with PT Brewin Mesa Sutera.
Defendant entered into a Deed of Undertaking with the plaintiff.
PT Brewin defaulted on its loan payment obligations.
Plaintiff issued notices to PT Brewin to pay.
Plaintiff issued a demand letter to the defendant for payment.
Plaintiff filed the original Statement of Claim.
Homologation Judgment given by a court in Indonesia.
Plaintiff applied to amend the original Statement of Claim.
Hearing on the application to amend the Statement of Claim.
Decision issued on the application to amend the Statement of Claim.

7. Legal Issues

  1. Amendment of Pleadings
    • Outcome: The court allowed the amendment in part, permitting the inclusion of Clause 3.1 and alternative relief of damages, but disallowed the inclusion of a misrepresentation claim.
    • Category: Procedural
    • Sub-Issues:
      • Inclusion of new cause of action
      • Clarification of existing issues
    • Related Cases:
      • [1993] 3 SLR(R) 640
      • [2012] 1 SLR 457
      • [2017] 3 SLR 559
  2. Breach of Contract
    • Outcome: The court found that the inclusion of Clause 3.1 and the claim for damages to be assessed enabled the real issues between the parties to be tried.
    • Category: Substantive
  3. Misrepresentation
    • Outcome: The court disallowed the amendment to include a claim for misrepresentation, finding that the claim was not a false representation of fact that legally founds an action for misrepresentation.
    • Category: Substantive
    • Related Cases:
      • [2003] 3 SLR(R) 307

8. Remedies Sought

  1. Payment of IDR 207,075,657,485
  2. Damages to be assessed

9. Cause of Actions

  • Breach of Contract
  • Misrepresentation

10. Practice Areas

  • Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

  • Banking
  • Finance
  • Fund Management

12. Cited Cases

Case NameCourtAffirmedCitationJurisdictionSignificance
Wright Norman and another v Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp LtdCourt of AppealYes[1993] 3 SLR(R) 640SingaporeCited for the principle that amendments enabling the real issues to be tried should be allowed unless they cause irreparable injustice.
Ng Chee Weng v Lim Jit Ming Bryan and anotherCourt of AppealYes[2012] 1 SLR 457SingaporeCited for principles regarding amendment of pleadings, including not allowing amendments if the amended claim would be struck out at trial.
EA Apartments Pte Ltd v Tan Bek and othersN/ANo[2017] 3 SLR 559SingaporeCited regarding the court's power to prevent abuses of process in allowing further amendments to pleadings.
Tan Chin Seng and others v Raffles Town Club Pte LtdN/AYes[2003] 3 SLR(R) 307SingaporeCited for the principle that a claim based on a promise not delivered is not a misrepresentation.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
Order 18 rule 19(1)(a) of the Rules of Court (2014 Rev Ed) (“ROC”)

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute NameJurisdiction
No applicable statutes

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

  • Facility Agreement
  • Deed of Undertaking
  • Support Party
  • Completion
  • Homologation Judgment
  • PKPU Proceedings
  • Statement of Claim

15.2 Keywords

  • breach of contract
  • amendment of pleadings
  • striking out
  • OCBC
  • real estate fund

17. Areas of Law

Area NameRelevance Score
Breach of Contract80
Civil Practice75
Civil Procedure75
Contract Law70
Amendment of Pleadings65
Striking out60

16. Subjects

  • Civil Procedure
  • Contract Law