THE RESOLUTION AND COLLECTION CORPORATION v TSUNEJI KAWABE & 6 Ors
Catchwords
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Judges (1)
Counsel (10)
Parties (8)
Case Significance
The Resolution and Collection Corp v Tsuneji Kawabe and others [2024] SGHC 63 was decided by the General Division of the High Court on 8 March 2024, with Choo Han Teck J reserving judgment after a hearing on 29 February 2024 in Suit No 716 of 2021, comprising Registrar's Appeal No 211 of 2023 and Summons No 179 of 2024. The plaintiff, The Resolution and Collection Corporation (formerly known as Housing Loan Administration Corporation), a Japanese-incorporated company, had obtained judgments in Japan in 2001 against the first defendant, Tsuneji Kawabe, and his company, the second defendant Kawabe Bussan Co Ltd. Following Mr Kawabe's death, the plaintiff sought to enforce the Japanese Judgments against the third defendant, his widow Yoshiko Kawabe, and the fourth defendant, his daughter Michiyo Kawabe, with the fifth defendant Natamon Protpakorn (in Thailand) not having entered an appearance, and the sixth and seventh defendants, D-well Pte Ltd and Cloud Bliss Limited, being companies owned by Ms Michiyo. The plaintiff's pleaded claim was approximately ¥17,483,893,290, equivalent to about S$157,000,000. The matter concerned an application for specific discovery of documents. The plaintiff was represented by Joyce A. Tan & Partners LLC.
[2024] SGHC 63 explained
THE RESOLUTION AND COLLECTION CORPORATION v TSUNEJI KAWABE & 6 Ors ([2024] SGHC 63) is a Singapore judgment decided by the High Court (General Division) on 8 March 2024. It is categorised under Civil Procedure. Within this corpus it has since been cited by 2 other reported Singapore judgments, a measure of how often later decisions have referred to it. This page summarises what the reported decision covers and links the primary sources — the full judgment, the statutes it cites, and the other cases it engages with — so the decision can be read in context. It is reference information, not legal advice, and it does not state the outcome or any holding beyond what the official judgment records.
What is [2024] SGHC 63 about?
THE RESOLUTION AND COLLECTION CORPORATION v TSUNEJI KAWABE & 6 Ors ([2024] SGHC 63) is a High Court (General Division) decision from 2024. Its published catchwords are “Civil Procedure — Discovery of documents — Specific discovery”, which indicate the subject matter the judgment addresses. The full reasoning and orders are in the judgment itself, linked below.
How influential is [2024] SGHC 63?
Within this corpus, [2024] SGHC 63 has been cited by 2 later reported Singapore judgments. That count reflects references from other decisions held in this corpus only and is a conservative lower bound on how often the case has actually been cited.
Summary
The Resolution and Collection Corporation, a Japanese-incorporated company holding judgments obtained in Japan, sought to enforce those judgments and pursued discovery against the late first defendant's daughter and two companies she owned, alleging she held assets that should have passed to her mother. The matter was an appeal concerning specific discovery of documents, the assistant registrar below having allowed certain categories which the appealing defendants challenged. The court, noting that the plaintiff's case rested on suspicion rather than direct evidence, ordered the daughter to disclose her tax returns for 2001 to 2004 and 2021 to 2023 and the companies to produce documents showing the source of certain funds, set aside some other discovery orders with liberty to apply, and reserved costs to the trial judge.
What was The Resolution and Collection Corp v Tsuneji Kawabe [2024] SGHC 63 about?
[2024] SGHC 63 concerned an application for specific discovery of documents in proceedings where The Resolution and Collection Corporation, a Japanese company, sought to enforce Japanese judgments obtained in 2001 (pleaded at about S$157,000,000) against the late Tsuneji Kawabe's widow, daughter and related companies.
How much did the plaintiff claim in [2024] SGHC 63?
The plaintiff's claim under the Japanese Judgments, as pleaded, was approximately ¥17,483,893,290, which the court noted would be roughly S$157,000,000. The judgments had been obtained in Japan in 2001 against Tsuneji Kawabe and his company Kawabe Bussan Co Ltd.
Referenced in
Legal concepts & references
Judgment
Read the full judgment on the official Singapore Courts portal.
Read on eLitigationSource: eLitigation ([2024] SGHC 63)