Singapore Court Provides Guidance on the Conduct of a Debtor’s Bankruptcy Application

Debtor’s bankruptcy applications may be seen as being less common than creditors’ bankruptcy applications. The law regarding the conduct of debtor’s bankruptcy applications, including the relevant tests and the burden of proof, is thus less often explored. In Re Then Feng [2022] SGHCR 1, the Singapore High Court provided guidance in this regard.

The Court considered a number of questions regarding debtor’s bankruptcy applications. Who is entitled to intervene? What must the debtor show to succeed in an application? On what grounds will the Court dismiss an application, and what are the relevant tests? In this Update, we provide a summary of the key points of the Court’s decision and what it means for future debtor’s bankruptcy applications.