Winson Group loses claims against OCBC, Standard Chartered over Hin Leong trade

The High Court of Singapore on Friday (18 August) reportedly dismissed Singapore-based oil trading firm Winson Group’s claims against the republic’s third largest bank Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) and Standard Chartered Bank, according to The Business Times. 

Winson lost in its legal action against both banks over unpaid letters of credit (LCs) worth USD 30.4 million each issued for diesel trade it sold to financially troubled Hin Leong Trading. 

According to The Business Times, the court found that “fraud exception” was established to determine that Winson had prepared its letters of indemnity (LOIs) to the banks for payment under letters of credit (LCs) based on forged bills of lading (BLs), knowingly or without belief in its truth. 

The judge concluded that “the banks are entitled to their costs, to be assessed if not fixed or agreed.” 

The cargo allegedly consisted of 785,997 barrels of diesel on board the Ocean Voyager and 786,022 barrels of the same diesel on board the Ocean Taipan.

According to the report, the High Court found that Hin Leong attempted to use the funds “purely for financing purposes” by discounting sales invoices or negotiating LCs, before repaying the banks for its purchases. The BLs were signed by a staff member of Hin Leong in a scheme to sell cargo that had already been sold, and then to buy the cargo back from a subsequent buyer to obtain financing.

The report added this resulted in the BLs that Winson used to base its LCs, and subsequent claims on, invalid.

Manifold Times previously reported Winson Group apparently winning the backing of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) against Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) over Hin Leong Trading (HLT) related disputes.

Related: Winson Group wins ICC backing in dispute against banks over credit for Hin Leong Trading
Related: Winson Group seeks USD 30.4 million from OCBC over credit pull in Hin Leong trade
Related: Winson Group seeks USD 30.4 million from Standard Chartered over HLT related trade
Related: Winson Group and ZenRock Commodities reassure fiscal stability despite Hin Leong fiasco

An extensive coverage by Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times regarding the fall of Hin Leong can be found below:

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Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 21 August, 2023