CGS-CIMB Securities v Koh Yew Choo: Leave to Serve Rejoinder & Consumer Protection

CGS-CIMB Securities (Singapore) Pte Ltd sued Koh Yew Choo in the High Court of the Republic of Singapore to recover the price of unpaid securities. Koh Yew Choo denied liability and counterclaimed for breaches of terms and conditions. CGS-CIMB Securities relied on certain clauses in the terms and conditions. Koh Yew Choo applied for leave to serve a rejoinder, alleging the clauses were unenforceable under the Unfair Contract Terms Act and constituted unfair practice under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act. The court granted Koh Yew Choo leave to serve a rejoinder in order to set out the Unfair Contract Terms Act and Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act pleadings, but not the Miscellaneous Pleadings. The court also granted CGS-CIMB Securities leave to serve a surrejoinder to provide its defence to the additional counterclaim in the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act pleading.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

High Court of the Republic of Singapore

1.2 Outcome

Defendant granted leave to serve a rejoinder in order to set out the Unfair Contract Terms Act and Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act pleadings, but not the Miscellaneous Pleadings. Plaintiff granted leave to serve a surrejoinder to provide its defence to the additional counterclaim in the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act pleading.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Application for leave to serve a rejoinder. The court considered the circumstances in which leave to serve a rejoinder may be granted.

1.7 Decision Date

20 December 2020

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
CGS-CIMB Securities (Singapore) Pte Ltd	Plaintiff	Corporation	Leave to serve surrejoinder granted	Partial	Adly Rizal bin Said of Tito Isaac & Co LLP Ho Seng Giap of Tito Isaac & Co LLP
Koh Yew Choo	Defendant	Individual	Leave to serve rejoinder granted in part	Partial	Tan Kia Hua of WongPartnership LLP Chen Jiahua of WongPartnership LLP

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Elton Tan Xue Yang	Assistant Registrar	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Adly Rizal bin Said	Tito Isaac & Co LLP
Ho Seng Giap	Tito Isaac & Co LLP
Tan Kia Hua	WongPartnership LLP
Chen Jiahua	WongPartnership LLP

4. Facts

Koh Yew Choo opened a Cash Trading Account and a Margin Trading Account with CGS-CIMB Securities.
Koh Yew Choo instructed CGS-CIMB Securities to purchase securities using the Cash Trading Account.
Koh Yew Choo instructed CGS-CIMB Securities to use the Margin Trading Account to pay for the securities and deposit them into the Margin Trading Account.
CGS-CIMB Securities transferred the securities into Koh Yew Choo’s CDP account due to an internal administrative error.
CGS-CIMB Securities discovered the mistake during an internal accounting reconciliation exercise.
CGS-CIMB Securities commenced proceedings against Koh Yew Choo to recover the price of the unpaid securities.

5. Formal Citations

CGS-CIMB Securities (Singapore) Pte Ltd v Koh Yew Choo, Suit No 607 of 2020 (Summons No 3914 of 2020), [2020] SGHCR 9

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2013-01-04	Koh Yew Choo opened a Cash Trading Account and a Margin Trading Account with CGS-CIMB Securities.
2019-04-25	Koh Yew Choo instructed CGS-CIMB Securities to purchase securities using the Cash Trading Account.
2019-04-29	Due date for payment of the securities.
2019-05-02	Koh Yew Choo instructed CGS-CIMB Securities to use the Margin Trading Account to pay for the securities and deposit them into the Margin Trading Account.
2019-05-03	CGS-CIMB Securities requested Koh Yew Choo to top up S$400,000 in the Margin Trading Account or dispose of other securities.
2019-05-06	CGS-CIMB Securities transferred the securities into Koh Yew Choo’s CDP account.
2019-07-01	Koh Yew Choo sold off or transferred out all the securities from her CDP Account.
2019-08-01	CGS-CIMB Securities discovered the mistake during an internal accounting reconciliation exercise.
2019-10-01	Koh Yew Choo met CGS-CIMB Securities and provided copies of her CDP Account statements.
2020-01-01	Meetings were held between Koh Yew Choo and CGS-CIMB Securities’ representatives.
2020-07-07	CGS-CIMB Securities commenced proceedings against Koh Yew Choo.
2020-09-28	Hearing date.
2020-11-10	Hearing date.
2020-12-21	Judgment date.

7. Legal Issues

Leave to serve a rejoinder
- Outcome: The court granted the defendant leave to serve a rejoinder in order to set out the Unfair Contract Terms Act and Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act pleadings, but not the Miscellaneous Pleadings. The court also granted the plaintiff leave to serve a surrejoinder to provide its defence to the additional counterclaim in the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act pleading.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
  - Matters which must be specifically pleaded
  - Repetition and amplification
  - Inefficiency and illogicality
  - Preventing surprises
- Related Cases:
  - [2010] 4 SLR 137
  - [2020] SGCA 89
  - [2017] SGHC 116
  - (1877) 35 LT 845
  - [2009] 3 SLR(R) 1131
  - (1876) 4 Ch. D. 341
  - [2020] 1 SLR 606
  - [2015] 5 SLR 1422
  - [2018] SGHC 264
  - [2016] 2 SLR 118
  - [1912] 1 Ch. 717
  - [1900] 2 Q.B. 181
  - (1882) 8 QBD 428
  - (1944) 171 L.T. 36
  - (1879) 12 Ch. D. 787
  - [2020] SGHC 273
  - [1968] P. 362

8. Remedies Sought

Recovery of the purchase price of securities
Damages for breach of contract
Damages for negligence
Damages under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act
Set-off

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of contract
Negligence
Unfair practice under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act

10. Practice Areas

Litigation

11. Industries

Financial Services

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Bachoo Mohan Singh v Public Prosecutor	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2010] 4 SLR 137	Singapore	Cited for the principle that it is not the function of a statement of claim to anticipate a defence.
Lim Zhipeng v Seow Suat Thin	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2020] SGCA 89	Singapore	Cited for the principle that it is not necessary for a plaintiff to plead consideration until the absence of consideration is raised as a defence.
Champion Management Pte Ltd v Kee Onn Engineering Pte Ltd	High Court	Yes	[2017] SGHC 116	Singapore	Cited for the principles governing the granting of leave to serve rejoinders.
Norris v Beazley	Court of Common Pleas	Yes	(1877) 35 LT 845	England	Cited for the principle that leave to serve a rejoinder will only be granted if it is really required to raise matters which must be specifically pleaded.
Yeow Chern Lean v Neo Kok Eng	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2009] 3 SLR(R) 1131	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the purpose of requiring leave to be granted before a rejoinder can be filed is to ensure finality in the pleading process.
Hall v Eve	English Court of Appeal	Yes	(1876) 4 Ch. D. 341	England	Cited for the principle that it is not the function of a statement of claim to anticipate a defence.
Liberty Sky Investments Ltd v Aesthetic Medical Partners Pte Ltd	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2020] 1 SLR 606	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the entire spirit underlying the regime of pleadings is that each party is aware of the respective arguments against it and that neither is therefore taken by surprise.
V Nithia (co-administratrix of the estate of Ponnusamy Sivapakiam, deceased) v Buthmanaban s/o Vaithilingam and another	Unknown	Yes	[2015] 5 SLR 1422	Singapore	Cited for the principle that procedural fairness and substantive justice interact with each other and cannot survive without the other.
Sun Electric Pte Ltd and another v Menrva Solutions Pte Ltd and another	High Court	Yes	[2018] SGHC 264	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the courts may allow an unpleaded point to be raised if no prejudice is caused to the other party.
SIC College of Business and Technology Pte Ltd v Yeo Poh Siah and others	Unknown	Yes	[2016] 2 SLR 118	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the underlying consideration of the law of pleadings is to prevent surprises at trial.
Re Robinson’s Settlement, Gant v Hobbs	Unknown	Yes	[1912] 1 Ch. 717	England	Cited for the principle that the effect of the rule is, for reasons of practice and justice and convenience, to require the party to tell his opponent what he is coming to the court to prove.
Renton Gibbs & Co. Limited v Neville & Co	English Court of Appeal	Yes	[1900] 2 Q.B. 181	England	Cited for the principle that a plaintiff may counterclaim to a counterclaim by a defendant.
Toke v Andrews	English High Court	Yes	(1882) 8 QBD 428	England	Cited for the principle that a plaintiff may counterclaim to a counterclaim by a defendant.
Lewis Falk, Limited v Jacobwitz	English High Court	Yes	(1944) 171 L.T. 36	England	Cited for the principle that a plaintiff may counterclaim to a counterclaim by a defendant.
Williamson v L. & N. W. Ry. Co.	Unknown	Yes	(1879) 12 Ch. D. 787	England	Cited regarding the possibility of a plaintiff including a new or additional claim in his reply.
Tian Kong Buddhist Temple v Tuan Kong Beo (Teochew) Temple	High Court	Yes	[2020] SGHC 273	Singapore	Cited for the principle that if a party intends to raise a particular point of law on the facts as pleaded, he ought to plead such a point expressly or, at the very least, give the opponent fair notice of the substance of his claim through his pleadings.
The Normar	Unknown	Yes	[1968] P. 362	England	A defendant claiming against a third party may counterclaim against the counterclaim made by a third party

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2014 Rev Ed) O 18 r 4
Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2014 Rev Ed) O 18 r 8
Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2014 Rev Ed) O 18 r 10
Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2014 Rev Ed) O 18 r 3(1)
Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2014 Rev Ed) O 15 r 2(2)

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Unfair Contract Terms Act (Cap 396, 1994 Rev Ed)	Singapore
Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act (Cap 52A, 2009 Rev Ed)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Rejoinder
Surrejoinder
Unfair Contract Terms Act
Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act
Pleadings
Cash Trading Account
Margin Trading Account
CDP Account
General Terms and Conditions
SGX-ST Rules

15.2 Keywords

Rejoinder
Civil Procedure
Contract Law
Consumer Protection

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Civil Practice	75
Contract Law	60
Consumer Law	40
Administrative Law	25

16. Subjects

Civil Procedure
Contract Law
Consumer Protection Law