Catch me if you can: Claiming jurisdiction over an overseas defendant: Shanghai Turbo Enterprises Ltd v Liu Ming [2019] SGCA 11

• Main Authors: YOONG, Aaron, VUONG, Nguyen Sinh
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
• Subjects: Asian Studies; Dispute Resolution and Arbitration; International Law; Jurisprudence
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/4336; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/6294/viewcontent/shanghai_turbo_enterprises_ltd_v_liu_ming.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The appellant, Shanghai Turbo Enterprises Ltd (“Shanghai Turbo”), is a Singapore-listed company that owns Hong Kong-incorporated Best Success (Hong Kong) Ltd, which in turn owns China-incorporated Changzhou 3D Technological Complete Set Equipment Ltd (“CZ3D”). The respondent, Liu Ming (“Liu”), owned approximately 30% of the shares in Shanghai Turbo. He was also a director of all three companies, and held other management positions there. In April 2017, Shanghai Turbo fired Liu from all his positions in the companies, allegedly because of declining levels of profit under his management. Subsequently, Shanghai Turbo filed a suit against Liu for breaching his service agreement (“the Agreement”) with Shanghai Turbo in several ways, including disclosing confidential information to a competitor, and diverting business away from CZ3D.