Court of Appeal Clarifies the Abuse of Process Exception to Situations Where Winding-Up Proceedings Would Ordinarily be Dismissed in Favour of Arbitration

07 Jul 2026

In Singapore Commodities Group Co., Pte. Ltd. v Founder Group (Hong Kong) Limited (in liquidation) [2026] SGCA 24 (“Singapore Commodities”), the Court of Appeal reaffirmed that a winding-up application should ordinarily be dismissed (or stayed) where the debt is prima facie disputed and subject to an arbitration agreement, absent clear abuse of process by the debtor. This update discusses the practical implications of this Court of Appeal decision.
 
The Court of Appeal’s decision in Singapore Commodities is one in a series of recent cases addressing the interplay between arbitration and insolvency proceedings, following the cases of Sapura Fabrication Sdn Bhd and others v GAS and another [2025] SGCA 13 (which we discussed in our previous update) and Sian Participation Corp (in Liquidation) v Halimeda International Ltd [2024] UKPC 16 (which we also discussed in our previous update).
 
Please click here to read the update.