Asia Pacific Wire & Cable Corp Ltd v Chik Kai-Ming Aaron: Director's Bonus, Pension, and Expense Reimbursement Dispute

In a case before the High Court of Singapore on 27 June 2007, Asia Pacific Wire & Cable Corp Ltd, Sigma Cable Company (Pte) Ltd, and Crown Century Holdings Ltd sued Chik Kai-Ming Aaron and Han Chung Yuan alias Hang Chung Yuan for allegedly wrongful payments of director's bonus, pension, remuneration, and expenses. The court dismissed most of the plaintiffs' claims, allowing only a small portion of Sigma Cable Company's claim for unauthorized expense reimbursements. The court allowed the defendants' counterclaims for unpaid directors' fees, salaries, and bonuses. Sigma Cable Company appealed the dismissal of its claims.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court

1.2 Outcome

Judgment for the Second Defendant on most claims; Partial Judgment for the Second Plaintiff for a small portion of expense reimbursements; Judgment for the First and Second Defendants on their counterclaims.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

High Court case involving Asia Pacific Wire & Cable Corp Ltd and Chik Kai-Ming Aaron concerning director's bonus, pension, and expense reimbursements. The court dismissed most claims but allowed a small portion of expense reimbursement.

1.7 Decision Date

26 June 2007

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Asia Pacific Wire & Cable Corp Ltd	Plaintiff	Corporation	Counterclaim Allowed, Counterclaim Allowed, Counterclaim Allowed	Lost, Lost, Lost	Quentin Loh, Simon Goh Keng Yeow, Tan Lee Meng, Baldev Singh Bhinder
Sigma Cable Company (Pte) Ltd	Plaintiff	Corporation	Claim Dismissed, Claim Dismissed, Claim Allowed in Part	Lost, Lost, Partial	Quentin Loh, Simon Goh Keng Yeow, Tan Lee Meng, Baldev Singh Bhinder
Crown Century Holdings Ltd	Plaintiff	Corporation	Claim Dismissed	Lost	Quentin Loh, Simon Goh Keng Yeow, Tan Lee Meng, Baldev Singh Bhinder
Chik Kai-Ming Aaron	Defendant	Individual	Claim Dismissed, Counterclaim Allowed, Counterclaim Allowed	Won, Won, Won	Quek Mong Hua, Gan Theng Chong, Alma Yong
Han Chung Yuan alias Hang Chung Yuan	Defendant	Individual	Claim Dismissed, Claim Dismissed, Claim Allowed in Part, Claim Dismissed, Counterclaim Allowed	Won, Won, Partial, Won, Won	Quek Mong Hua, Gan Theng Chong, Alma Yong

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Lee Seiu Kin	Judge	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Quentin Loh	Rajah & Tann
Simon Goh Keng Yeow	Rajah & Tann
Tan Lee Meng	Rajah & Tann
Baldev Singh Bhinder	Rajah & Tann
Quek Mong Hua	Lee & Lee
Gan Theng Chong	Lee & Lee
Alma Yong	Lee & Lee

4. Facts

The second plaintiff claimed the second defendant received excessive director's bonus payments.
The second plaintiff claimed the second defendant received unauthorized pension payments.
The second plaintiff claimed the second defendant received unauthorized expense reimbursements.
The first defendant counterclaimed for unpaid director's fees, salaries, bonuses, and expenses.
The second defendant counterclaimed for unpaid salaries and bonuses.
The second defendant had an oral agreement with Jack Sun for income tax reimbursement.
The second defendant had an agreement with Jack Sun to incur up to 1% of sales revenue for sales and entertainment expenses.

5. Formal Citations

Asia Pacific Wire & Cable Corp Ltd and Others v Chik Kai-Ming Aaron and Another, Suit 438/2005, [2007] SGHC 102

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2006-10-18	Trial commenced
2006-10-30	Defendants closed their cases
2006-11-28	Plaintiffs filed a second amended statement of claim
2007-02-12	Counsel made oral submissions
2007-03-02	Court made orders
2007-03-30	Second plaintiff appealed against orders
2007-06-27	Decision Date
2000-01-01	First defendant employed by the first plaintiff as its Deputy Chief Financial Officer
2002-03-01	First defendant promoted to Chief Financial Officer
2001-03-23	First defendant became the company secretary of the first plaintiff
2002-03-22	First defendant appointed a director of the third plaintiff
2003-03-27	First defendant appointed a director of the first plaintiff
2003-12-08	First defendant appointed a director of the second plaintiff
2004-09-24	First defendant resigned as director of the first plaintiff
2004-11-01	First defendant stepped down as its CFO
1980-01-01	Second defendant appointed as acting general manager of the second plaintiff
1982-01-01	Second defendant confirmed as general manager of the second plaintiff
1988-07-15	Second defendant appointed a director of the second plaintiff
1997-01-01	Second defendant appointed Chief Operating Officer of the first plaintiff
1996-09-01	Second defendant appointed a director of the first plaintiff
2002-03-22	Second defendant appointed a director of the third plaintiff
2004-09-24	Second defendant resigned as director of the first plaintiff
2005-01-11	Second defendant resigned as director of the second plaintiff and the third plaintiff

7. Legal Issues

Breach of Contract
- Outcome: The court dismissed most breach of contract claims, except for a small portion of unauthorized expense reimbursements.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Excessive bonus payments
  - Unauthorised pension payments
  - Unauthorised expense reimbursements
Director's Fiduciary Duties
- Outcome: The court found no breach of fiduciary duty regarding pension payments.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Monetary Damages
Refund of Payments

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Contract
Breach of Fiduciary Duty

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

Manufacturing
Telecommunications

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

Director's bonus
Pension payments
Expense reimbursements
Employment contract
Board resolutions
General meeting of shareholders
Fiduciary duties
Unauthorised payments

15.2 Keywords

director's bonus
pension
expense reimbursement
contract
fiduciary duty
corporate governance

16. Subjects

Contract Dispute
Corporate Governance
Employment Law

17. Areas of Law

Contract Law
Corporate Law