Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA, DIFC Branch & Anor v China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd
Outcome
Claim dismissedthe claim was dismissed on the basis that the representation was not false, the court went on to consider whether the representation was made fraudulently.
Source: [2025] SGCA 33, Court of Appeal, decided 7 July 2025. Read directly from the judgment.
Key facts
| Court | Court of Appeal |
|---|---|
| Decided | |
| Judges | Belinda Ang Saw Ean, Steven Chong, Sundaresh Menon |
| Charges / claim | Tort, Bills of Exchange and Other Negotiable Instruments |
| Outcome | Claim dismissed |
| Counsel | Focus Law Asia LLC, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, Siraj Omar LLC, Fitzgerald Hendroff, Khoo Ching Shin Shem, Larisa Cheng, Lin Yong'En Nathanael, Marcus Chiang Mun Leong, Muhammad Salihin bin Mohd Zahrin, Ng Wei Kit Joshua, Siraj Omar, Tan Zhi Rui, Teo Jia Hui Veronica, Toh Kian Sing |
Source: [2025] SGCA 33, Court of Appeal, decided — eLitigation. Updated .
Catchwords
Practice Areas
Counsel (14)
Case Significance
[2025] SGCA 33 is a Court of Appeal decision dated 7 July 2025 concerning Bills of Exchange and Other Negotiable Instruments and Tort, specifically addressing misrepresentation and letter of credit transaction. The judgment was delivered by Steven Chong, with Belinda Ang Saw Ean and Sundaresh Menon on the coram. The case was brought by Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA and others (appellant) against China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (respondent). Legal representation was provided by Focus Law Asia LLC and Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP. The judgment cites 25 cases (22 Singapore, 3 foreign).
[2025] SGCA 33 explained
Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA, DIFC Branch & Anor v China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd ([2025] SGCA 33) is a Singapore judgment decided by the Court of Appeal on 7 July 2025. It is categorised under Tort and Bills of Exchange and Other Negotiable Instruments. It is a recent decision; within this corpus no later judgment has cited it yet. 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 [2025] SGCA 33 about?
Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA, DIFC Branch & Anor v China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd ([2025] SGCA 33) is a Court of Appeal decision from 2025. Its published catchwords are “Tort — Misrepresentation — Fraud and deceit — Whether honest belief in representation is to be assessed by reference to representor’s or representee’s subjective understanding of the representation” and “Bills of Exchange and Other Negotiable Instruments — Letter of credit transaction — Presentation of letter of indemnity — Whether representations in letter of indemnity were false — Whether representor made representations with no honest belief in their truth — Whether documents presented to issuing bank contained representations made to the issuing bank”, which indicate the subject matter the judgment addresses. The full reasoning and orders are in the judgment itself, linked below.
What earlier Singapore cases does [2025] SGCA 33 cite?
Among the in-corpus authorities it refers to are [2024] SGHC 282 and [2024] SGHC 145. The complete list of cases cited, and of later cases that cite this decision, is shown on this page.
Summary
Banque de Commerce et de Placements (BCP) sued China Aviation Oil (CAO) for fraudulent misrepresentation in connection with a letter of credit transaction involving the sale of gasoil through a chain of contracts that included the now-insolvent Zenrock Commodities. BCP alleged that CAO's letter of indemnity contained false representations about its entitlement to possession of bills of lading. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the representation was neither false nor made fraudulently, as CAO held an honest belief in the truth of its representations at the time they were made.
What was decided in [2025] SGCA 33?
[2025] SGCA 33 (Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA, DIFC Branch & Anor v China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd) is a Court of Appeal decision from 7 July 2025 addressing Bills of Exchange and Other Negotiable Instruments and Tort, specifically misrepresentation and letter of credit transaction. The judgment was delivered by Steven Chong.
Who were the parties in Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA, DIFC Branch & Anor v China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd ([2025] SGCA 33)?
The appellant in [2025] SGCA 33 was Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA, Banque de Commerce et de Placements SA, DIFC Branch, and the respondent was China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd. Legal representation included Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP and Focus Law Asia LLC. The case was decided on 7 July 2025 in the Court of Appeal.
Which judge decided [2025] SGCA 33?
[2025] SGCA 33 was delivered by Steven Chong in the Court of Appeal on 7 July 2025. Belinda Ang Saw Ean and Sundaresh Menon also sat on the coram. The case concerned Bills of Exchange and Other Negotiable Instruments and Tort.
What cases and statutes does [2025] SGCA 33 cite?
[2025] SGCA 33 cites 25 prior decisions, including 3 from foreign jurisdictions.
Cases Cited (25)
Related cases
Other Singapore judgments involving the same parties or counsel.
Referenced in
Legal concepts & references
Judgment
Read the full judgment on the official Singapore Courts portal.
Read on eLitigationSource: eLitigation ([2025] SGCA 33)