Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd ("HLT") is a commodity trading corporation that is registered and headquartered in Singapore. It was established in 1963 by Lim Oon Kuin and became one of Singapore's largest independent oil traders. As of 2020, HLT had three directors who were also shareholders of the company. The three directors are Mr. Lim, his son (Evan Lim Chee Meng), and his daughter (Lim Huey Ching).

In April 2020, the company was put under judicial management, with debts of about $5.46 billion owed to 23 banks.

In a court filing, Mr. Lim admitted that he knowingly directed the company's personnel to not disclose $1.14 billion of losses incurred over the past few years. In addition, he stated that the company had secretly sold off its inventory (part of one million barrels of oil) which had been pledged as collateral for its loans.

The losses and inability to pay its debt was attributed to the collapse of oil price for the past few years and the recent coronavirus pandemic. The latter hammered oil demand and oil price, and pushed up costs for the company.

As of 2020, HLT's liabilities exceed its assets by about $4.34 billion.

It has also been alleged that Mr. Lim and his two children had transferred $3.5 billion (with an additional $90 million in dividends) from HLT to their own personal accounts, even though the company was insolvent.

Review the following news articles and conduct further research (where relevant) before answering the questions below:

• https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/hin-leong-under-interim-judicial-management
• https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/hin-leong-founder-ok-lim-and-two-children-sued-by-bankrupt-firms-judicial
• https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/head-oil-trader-hin-leong-didnt-disclose-11b-losses-court-filing

Required:

(a) Discuss one appropriate option available to HLT under the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018, given its insolvency. Although the abovementioned news articles indicate that HLT was placed under judicial management, you may recommend a different option for HLT. In your answer, you should explain why HLT is considered insolvent and provide a well-balanced consideration of why your proposed option is feasible, compared to other available options.(30 marks)

(b) Based on the option you proposed in your answer to Question (a) above, explain the procedures and steps required to be taken under the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 to obtain approval of the court and HLT's shareholders and creditors (where relevant). (15 marks)