Lim Lye Hiang v Official Assignee: Vesting of CPF Monies in Bankruptcy

Lim Lye Hiang appealed against the High Court's decision regarding the vesting of Central Provident Fund (CPF) monies in the Official Assignee (OA). The Court of Appeal of Singapore, Rajah JA delivering the judgment, dismissed the appeal, holding that the entitlement to the CPF monies devolved to Lim Lye Hiang, an undischarged bankrupt, upon her sister's death and thus vested in the OA, notwithstanding her subsequent discharge from bankruptcy. The court found that the entitlement to withdraw the monies constituted 'property' under the Bankruptcy Act.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Court of Appeal

1.2 Outcome

Appeal dismissed.

1.3 Case Type

Insolvency

1.4 Judgment Type

Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Appeal regarding whether CPF monies devolved to a bankrupt nominee vest in the Official Assignee. The court held that the entitlement vested in the OA.

1.7 Decision Date

1 November 2011

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Official Assignee	Respondent	Government Agency	Appeal dismissed	Won	Lim Yew Jin of Insolvency & Public Trustee’s Office Li Mingjie Jordon of Insolvency & Public Trustee’s Office
Lim Lye Hiang	Appellant	Individual	Appeal dismissed	Lost	Foo Soon Yien of Bernard & Rada Law Corporation

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Chao Hick Tin	Justice of the Court of Appeal	Yes
Andrew Phang Boon Leong	Justice of the Court of Appeal	Yes
V K Rajah	Justice of the Court of Appeal	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Lim Yew Jin	Insolvency & Public Trustee’s Office
Li Mingjie Jordon	Insolvency & Public Trustee’s Office
Foo Soon Yien	Bernard & Rada Law Corporation

4. Facts

A bankruptcy order was made against Lim Lye Hiang on 9 January 1998.
Lim Lye Hiang's sister, Lim Lye Keow, nominated her to receive CPF monies and SingTel discounted shares.
Lim Lye Keow passed away on 14 March 2008, while Lim Lye Hiang was still an undischarged bankrupt.
The CPF Board initially informed Lim Lye Hiang that the monies would be released to the Official Assignee.
The Official Assignee filed a report to the court in support of discharging Lim Lye Hiang from bankruptcy.
The court granted an order discharging Lim Lye Hiang from bankruptcy on 13 November 2009.
Lim Lye Hiang attempted to claim the monies from the CPF Board, but the Board instructed the OA to forward the monies to them.
The monies, amounting to $102,614.84, were transferred to the OA's bank account.

5. Formal Citations

Lim Lye Hiang v Official Assignee, Civil Appeal No 195 of 2010, [2011] SGCA 56
Re Lim Lye Hiang, ex parte the Official Assignee, , [2011] 1 SLR 707

6. Timeline

Date	Event
1998-01-09	Bankruptcy order made against the appellant.
2008-03-14	Lim Lye Keow passed away.
2008-09-18	CPF Board sent a letter to the appellant informing her that the Monies would be released to the Official Assignee.
2009-06-26	The Board sent an e-mail to the OA requesting instructions for the transfer of the Monies.
2009-10-16	The OA filed a report to the court in support of its application to discharge the appellant from bankruptcy.
2009-11-13	The court granted an order discharging the appellant from bankruptcy.
2010-01-12	The appellant attempted to claim the Monies from the Board.
2010-01-14	The Board wrote to the OA again by e-mail requesting the OA to give instructions for the transfer of the Monies.
2010-01-14	The OA instructed the Board to forward the Monies to the OA.
2010-02-24	The Board wrote to the OA informing the OA that the Monies, amounting to $102,614.84, had been transferred to its bank account.
2010-03-02	The Monies were received in the OA’s bank account.
2010-05-12	The OA filed Summons No 600059 of 2010 seeking an order that the Monies be divisible among the appellant’s creditors.
2011-11-02	Judgment reserved.

7. Legal Issues

Vesting of property in bankruptcy
- Outcome: The court held that the entitlement to the CPF monies vested in the Official Assignee upon the death of the CPF member, as the nominee was an undischarged bankrupt at the time.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Definition of property under the Bankruptcy Act
  - Effect of discharge from bankruptcy on vested property
  - Entitlement to withdraw CPF funds as a chose in action
- Related Cases:
  - [2011] 1 SLR 707
  - [2005] 3 SLR(R) 546
  - [1995] 2 SLR(R) 826
Effect of discharge from bankruptcy
- Outcome: The court held that a discharge from bankruptcy does not automatically revest property in the discharged bankrupt.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Revesting of property upon discharge
  - Functions of the Official Assignee after discharge
  - Interpretation of s 127 of the Bankruptcy Act
- Related Cases:
  - [2005] 3 SLR(R) 546

8. Remedies Sought

Order that the Monies be divisible among the appellant’s creditors
Declaration that the money should be paid over to him personally

9. Cause of Actions

Claim for CPF monies by nominee
Application for discharge from bankruptcy

10. Practice Areas

Insolvency Law
Civil Appeals

11. Industries

No industries specified

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Re Lim Lye Hiang, ex parte the Official Assignee	High Court	Yes	[2011] 1 SLR 707	Singapore	Decision under appeal; the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court's decision that the entitlement to the CPF monies vested in the OA.
Chong Chee Keong v Official Assignee	High Court	Yes	[2005] 3 SLR(R) 546	Singapore	Cited by the appellant to argue that her discharge had the effect of revesting the rights to the Monies in her. The court disagreed with the conclusion in this case.
Central Provident Fund Board v Lau Eng Mui	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1995] 2 SLR(R) 826	Singapore	Cited to support the interpretation of sections 15(5), 20(1) and 25 of the CPFA, establishing that the time of death of the CPF member is the critical time at which the nomination under s 25 takes effect.
Torkington v Magee	Court of King's Bench	Yes	[1902] 2 KB 427	England and Wales	Cited for the definition of a chose in action.
Kwok Chi Leung Karl v Commissioner of Estate Duty	Privy Council	Yes	[1988] 1 WLR 1035	Hong Kong	Cited for the principle that the existence of a chose in action does not depend upon immediate enforceability.
In re Landau (a bankrupt)	Chancery Division	Yes	[1998] Ch 223	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that rights under a pension policy fell within a bankrupt’s estate, even if the benefits were only payable after discharge.
Chng Suan Tze v Minister for Home Affairs and others and other appeals	Court of Appeal	Yes	[1988] 2 SLR(R) 525	Singapore	Cited for the principle that any discretion, however wide or narrow, has legal limits.
Cummings v Claremont Petroleum NL and another	High Court	Yes	(1996) 185 CLR 124	Australia	Cited for the interpretation of similar provisions in Australian bankruptcy statutes in a disjunctive manner.
In re Rose; Trustee of the Property of E T Rose v Rose	High Court of Justice	Yes	[1904] 2 Ch 348	England and Wales	Cited for the interpretation of similar provisions in English bankruptcy statutes in a disjunctive manner.
Tan Teck Guan v Mapletree Trustee Pte Ltd (trustee of Mapletree Industrial Trust)	High Court	Yes	[2011] 3 SLR 1031	Singapore	Cited for the principle that annulment has the effect of wiping out the bankruptcy altogether and putting the bankrupt in the same position as if there had been no bankruptcy order made against him.
Re Siah Ooi Choe, ex parte Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp	High Court	Yes	[1997] 3 SLR(R) 706	Singapore	Cited for the principle that a discharge is intended to give the bankrupt a second chance in life.
Pegler v Dale	Supreme Court	Yes	(1975) 6 ALR 62	Australia	Cited for the principle that a discharge does not in itself have the effect of revesting property.
Re Emilco Pty Ltd	Supreme Court of New South Wales	Yes	[2001] NSWSC 1035	Australia	Cited for the principle that a discharge does not in itself have the effect of revesting property.
In re A Debtor, Ex parte the Trustee of the Property of the Bankrupt v Clegg and others	High Court of Justice	Yes	[1968] 1 WLR 788	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that a discharge does not in itself have the effect of revesting property.
Ex parte Waters; In re Waters	Court of Chancery	Yes	(1874) LR 18 Eq 701	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that a discharge does not in itself have the effect of revesting property.
In re Ward	High Court of Justice	Yes	[1942] 1 Ch 294	England and Wales	Cited for the interpretation of the phrase 'his creditors' in the context of bankruptcy law.
Law Society v Shah	High Court of Justice	Yes	[2009] Ch 223	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that the effect of a discharge is to extinguish the remedy of enforcement as against the bankrupt, but not the underlying cause of action.
Bird v Philpott	High Court of Justice	Yes	[1900] 1 Ch 822	England and Wales	Cited for the principle that any property which subsequently comes to light will be held by the OA on trust for the discharged bankrupt beneficially.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Central Provident Fund Act (Cap 36, 2001 Rev Ed) s 25	Singapore
Central Provident Fund Act (Cap 36, 2001 Rev Ed) s 15	Singapore
Central Provident Fund Act (Cap 36, 2001 Rev Ed) s 20	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20, 2009 Rev Ed) s 124	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20, 2009 Rev Ed) s 78	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20, 2009 Rev Ed) s 76	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20, 2009 Rev Ed) s 127	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20, 2009 Rev Ed) s 128	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20, 2009 Rev Ed) s 129	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20, 2009 Rev Ed) s 2	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20, 2009 Rev Ed) s 119	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20, 2009 Rev Ed) s 118	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20, 2009 Rev Ed) s 122	Singapore
Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20, 2009 Rev Ed) s 31	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Central Provident Fund
Official Assignee
Bankruptcy
Discharge
Vesting
Chose in action
Property
Nominee
Creditors
Final dividend

15.2 Keywords

Bankruptcy
CPF
Official Assignee
Vesting
Discharge

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Bankruptcy	95
Central Provident Fund Act	70
Company Law	10
Succession Law	5

16. Subjects

Bankruptcy
Central Provident Fund
Property Rights