CIMB ACCUSES HONTOP ENERGY OF SUSPICIOUS DEALS WITH BP

Singapore’s High Court has appointed an independent supervisor to oversee the restructuring of trader Hontop Energy just as Malaysian lender CIMB, its biggest creditor, raised concerns about what it described as suspicious deals involving oil major British Petroleum (BP), according to an affidavit filed with the court this week and reviewed by Reuters.

Hontop, the trading arm of Chinese independent refiner China Wanda Holding Group Co. Ltd., is one of four commodity trading firms in Singapore which ran into financial trouble as the oil price crashed. CIMB is seeking repayment of $105 million it lent the company, Florence Tan, Roslan Khasawneh and Chen Aizhu reported for Reuters late on July 5, 2020.

In the affidavit requesting the appointment of an independent supervisor to run Hontop’s affairs, CIMB Bank Berhad detailed how it lent Hontop the money to finance two crude oil deals late last year in a section entitled “Suspicious transactions.” In total, Hintop owes nearly $470 million to seven banks, according to a list of creditors included in the affidavit.

Accounting firm RSM Corporate Advisory Pte. Ltd. has been named interim judicial managers following the bank’s application, according to CIMB’s law firm Rajah & Tann and the affidavit. Hontop Energy and its lawyer TSMP did not respond to emails and calls seeking comment about CIMB’s affidavit and the appointment of RSM. Calls to Wanda’s Dongying headquarters went unanswered.