DVC member Brian Fan gave insight into the effects of the HK Court of Appeal’s decision(s) in the “Guy Lam” chronicles this morning at a breakfast roundtable organized by Roubrick.
The participants discussed the likely implications of and issues arising from the Court of Final Appeal’s landmark judgment in Re 𝑮𝒖𝒚 𝑲𝒘𝒐𝒌 𝑯𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝑳𝒂𝒎 (2023) HKCFAR 9, and following 𝑮𝒖𝒚 𝑳𝒂𝒎, the twin decisions of the Court of Appeal in 𝑹𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 & 𝑽𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 (𝑯𝑲) 𝑪𝒐 𝑳𝒕𝒅 [2024] HKCA 299 and 𝑨𝒓𝒋𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝑯𝑲𝑲 2 𝑳𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒗 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑳𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 [2024] HKCA 352.
Speakers analysed the origins of the dispute, the difficult legal questions to be resolved, and whether loan agreements in general are too “covenant light”. It has become vitally important to understand the loan terms today, and lenders are heavily weighed down by them. There was a lively discussion as the table explored the issues and implications, including clarity and the concept of frivolity.
