Legal

UPDATE: BP Singapore bunker bribery case

BP Regional Compliance Director took to the stand on Thursday to define the firm’s Code of Conduct.

Published

6 years ago

July 12, 2018

The trial of former BP Singapore Regional Marine Manager Clarence Chang continued at the State Courts of Singapore on Thursday.

Chang was facing 20 charges for allegedly accepting bribes totalling USD $3.95 million from Koh Seng Lee, the sole shareholder and executive director of Pacific Prime Trading (PPT) between the period of July 31, 2006 and July 26, 2010.

Theresa Zapiecki, BP’s Regional Compliance Director, Global Oil Eastern Hemisphere, Ethics & Compliance – Integrated Supply and Trading took to the stand to testify that Chang breached the oil major’s Code of Conduct and Global Trading Guidelines.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jiang Ke-Yue told Zapiecki to elaborate on BP’s stand on the conduct of Chang who was suspected of setting up PPT with Koh and positioning the company to be the approved counterparty of BP Singapore.

“Under the BP code of conduct this is a conflict of interest and should be disclosed to the line manager, with legal and compliance getting involved for litigation,” she told the court.

“If Chang had gone to his line manager and disclosed the development prior to setting up the company [PPT], his line manager would have engaged compliance and legal as a minimum to define boundaries to mitigate conflict of interest; perhaps removing some job responsibilities around the counterparty or even not including the firm [PPT] as trading partner.”

Zapiecki further explained that if BP had found out about Chang’s alleged role in PPT after its creation, the oil major would have suspended him pending internal investigations.

An investigation report would have been presented at an internal disciplinary hearing; specially citing the Code of Conduct, a decision will have been made around misconduct with penalty being in the range from suspension or warning letter to termination.

According to Zapiecki, the Integrated Supply and Trading arm of BP which Chang was previously employed at is the only section in BP which is involved in physical trades; this exposes him to a different risk profile that requires him to follow additional compliance covering market manipulations, unfair trading activities, anti-competition rules, and collusion in trading behaviour and business communications.

Chang voided compliance when he sent an internal message to Koh suggesting certain trading instructions.

The alleged instructions recommended PPT to trade 250,000 mt of bunkers per month, and “pass all terms with good pricing to BP first for spot trading at MOPS flat or 500 cSt plus two.”

Information gained from the instructions allowed BP to know how much PPT intends to purchase and could create a preferable trading environment to be used to inflate the price; it also discloses the margins and costs of BP, notes Zapiecki.

BP’s Code of Conduct was also violated when Chang recommended Koh to invest in his wife’s business, resulting in Koh investing SGD $500,000 for Mindchamps City Square between 2009 to 2010.

“If BP found out about this, he will have been put into suspension and investigations kicked off,” she says.

“A review of business communications, interviews to determine what Code of Conduct and Trading Guideline violations will have been made to check if he violated employment contract guidelines.

“If found, the penalty could range from warning letter to termination.”

The next trial at the State Courts of Singapore is scheduled for 24 July.

Photo credit: Chensiyuan / CC BY-SA 4.0
Published: 12 July, 2018

Bunker Fuel

SIBCON 2024: Bunker players sign SCMA pledge to drive progress within Maritime Singapore

Bunker players involved include Consort Bunkers, Equatorial Marine Fuel, Golden Island, Hong Lam Marine, Kenoil Marine Services, Marubeni International Petroleum and Sinopec Fuel Oil.

Published

2 days ago

October 11, 2024

Admin

SIBCON 2024: Bunker players sign SCMA pledge to drive progress within Maritime Singapore

Some 10 bunker players on Tuesday (8 October) signed a pledge with Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration (SCMA) at the 23rd Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition (SIBCON).

The bunker players involved are Consort Bunkers Pte Ltd, Equatorial Marine Fuel Management Services Pte Ltd, Fratelli Cosulich Bunkers (S) Pte Ltd, Global Energy Trading Pte Ltd, Golden Island Pte Ltd, Hong Lam Marine Pte Ltd, Kenoil Marine Services Pte Ltd, Marubeni International Petroleum (S) Pte Ltd, Sinopec Fuel Oil (Singapore) Pte ltd and Victory Pte Ltd.

SCMA and the pledgees will work together to promote and enhance the capabilities and opportunities within the Maritime Singapore community and ecosystem.

Among the aspirational goals embodied by the SCMA Pledge is that the pledgees give preferential consideration, where appropriate, for the use of the SCMA Arbitration Rules for the resolution of their maritime or international trade disputes.

The bunker players may also use its best endeavours to support the Maritime Singapore community and ecosystem, including contributing to the development and dissemination of best practices as well as providing support and opportunity to young maritime legal and dispute resolution professionals in the form of internships, mentorships, and educational seminars aimed at fostering the next generation of maritime leaders.

SCMA, a specialist arbitration institution, is the only arbitration institution in Singapore focused on maritime and international trade disputes.

It offers the maritime and international trade sectors a set of arbitration rules and guidelines which are flexible and cost effective.

Users of SCMA arbitration include maritime companies, international traders and commodity companies for the resolution of their disputes such as those involving charterparty, bunker, commercial sales, cargo, oil and gas, shipbuilding and ship repair.

Photo credit: Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration
Published: 11 October, 2024

Vessel Arrest

Singapore: Liberia-flagged tanker “Fair Star” placed under Sheriff’s arrest

Vessel was arrested at 9.05pm and is currently held at Eastern Petroleum Anchorage A; arresting solicitor listed was law firm Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP.

Published

4 days ago

October 9, 2024

Admin

An Liberia-flagged oil tanker, Fair Star, was arrested in Singapore waters on Saturday (5 October).

The vessel was added to the list of vessels under Sheriff’s arrest in Singapore’s court system.

According to the list, the vessel was arrested at 9.05pm and the arresting solicitor listed was law firm Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP. The ship is currently held at Eastern Petroleum Anchorage A.

No details regarding the reason behind the arrest were provided in the list.

Photo credit: MarineTraffic / Flare
Published: 9 October, 2024

Winding up

Singapore: Final meeting scheduled for K3 Shipping Pte Ltd

Meeting will be held on 4 November at 9am to hear any explanation that may be given by liquidators, according to Government Gazette notice.

Published

6 days ago

October 7, 2024

Admin

The final meeting of K3 Shipping Pte Ltd, has been scheduled to take place on 4 November, according to the company’s liquidator on a notice posted on Friday (4 October) on the Government Gazette.

The meeting will be held at 9am at 600 North Bridge Road, #05-01 Parkview Square, Singapore 188778.

It is being held for the purpose of having an account laid before the members showing the manner in which the winding up has been conducted and the property of the company disposed of and of hearing any explanation that may be given by the Liquidators.

The details of the liquidator are as follows:

Victor Goh
Khor Boon Hong
Marie Lee
Joint Liquidators
c/o Baker Tilly
600 North Bridge Road
#05-01 Parkview Square
Singapore 188778

According to Singapore-based B2B Sales Intelligence platform The Grid, the company’s main activity was in shipping, including chartering of ships and boats with crew.

Photo credit: Benjamin-child
Published: 7 October, 2024