HSBC Bank v Wong: Forex Contract Dispute over Margin Call and Liquidation

In HSBC Bank USA (formerly known as Republic National Bank of New York) v Francisco Lee Wong and Rachel Yu Wong, the High Court of Singapore ruled in favor of the plaintiff, HSBC Bank USA, in a dispute concerning a foreign exchange contract. The court found that Francisco Wong was aware of the margin call and the bank's intention to liquidate his positions. The court granted judgment to HSBC for US$31,237.65 with interest, and dismissed the defendant's counterclaim.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Judgment for Plaintiff

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

HSBC Bank USA sued Francisco Lee Wong over a forex contract dispute. The court ruled in favor of HSBC, finding Wong was aware of the margin call and liquidation.

1.7 Decision Date

2 August 2001

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
HSBC Bank USA (formerly known as Republic National Bank of New York)	Plaintiff	Corporation	Judgment for Plaintiff	Won	Harpreet Singh of Drew & Napier LLC Advani Ajay Jiwat of Drew & Napier LLC
Francisco Lee Wong	Defendant	Individual	Counterclaim Dismissed	Lost	Thio Shen Yi of TSMP Law Corporation Elaine Tan of TSMP Law Corporation
Rachel Yu Wong	Defendant	Individual	Counterclaim Dismissed	Lost	Thio Shen Yi of TSMP Law Corporation Elaine Tan of TSMP Law Corporation

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Woo Bih Li	Judicial Commissioner	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Harpreet Singh	Drew & Napier LLC
Advani Ajay Jiwat	Drew & Napier LLC
Thio Shen Yi	TSMP Law Corporation
Elaine Tan	TSMP Law Corporation

4. Facts

The Plaintiffs and Defendants had a contract regarding foreign exchange positions.
The Plaintiffs had the right to close out the Defendants’ positions without a margin call under certain circumstances.
The Plaintiffs' practice was to make a margin call before closing out positions.
The Plaintiffs' Sylvia Liu made a margin call to Mr. Wong on 8 October 1998.
Mr. Wong expressed disbelief and requested clarification.
Ms. Liu sent two faxes to Mr. Wong explaining the Defendants’ positions.
Mr. Wong did not return Ms. Liu’s call after receiving a message urging him to close out his positions.
The Defendants’ positions were liquidated the night before the US$/yen exchange rate turned around in their favor.

5. Formal Citations

HSBC Bank USA (formerly known as Republic National Bank of New York) v Francisco Lee Wong and Another, Suit 600001/2001/T, [2001] SGHC 210

6. Timeline

Date	Event
1998-10-08	Plaintiffs made a margin call at about 1529 hours.
1998-11-01	Interest on judgment calculated from this date.
2001-08-03	Judgment issued.

7. Legal Issues

Breach of Contract
- Outcome: The court found that the defendant breached the contract by failing to meet the margin call, entitling the plaintiff to liquidate the positions.
- Category: Substantive
Margin Call
- Outcome: The court found that the plaintiff did make a margin call and the defendant was aware of it.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Monetary Damages

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Contract

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

Banking
Finance

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
No cited cases

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
No applicable statutes

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Margin Call
Liquidation
Foreign Exchange
US$/yen exchange rate

15.2 Keywords

HSBC
Francisco Lee Wong
Margin Call
Foreign Exchange
Contract
Liquidation

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Banking and Finance	75
Contract Law	65
Commercial Disputes	50
Foreign Exchange Transactions	30

16. Subjects

Contract Dispute
Foreign Exchange Transactions