CANDEY defeats opposition to Recognition Order brought by Hong Kong billionaire in Cross Border Insolvency Proceedings in respect of his £14.24 billion bankruptcy

On Friday, 13 June 2025, ICC Judge Mullen sitting in the High Court in London granted a Recognition Order in favour of CANDEY’s clients in cross-border insolvency proceedings.

CANDEY acts for the Trustees in bankruptcy in one of the world’s largest ever bankruptcies. The Trustees were appointed over the estate of Mr Pan Sutong, a billionaire who was made bankrupt in Hong Kong in July 2022 with proof of debts totalling £14.24 billion.

In November 2024, the Trustees issued applications pursuant to the Insolvency Act 1986 and the Cross Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 to recognise the Hong Kong bankruptcy in the UK (having already secured recognition of the bankruptcy in Australia, BVI and Singapore). The Trustees believe that Mr Pan has an interest in substantial assets in the UK, including an apartment in One Hyde Park via a shareholding in a BVI company. The apartment, in respect of which the Trustees obtained an injunction in the BVI in October 2024 preventing its disposal, is estimated to be worth in the region of £55 million.

In February 2025, CANDEY successfully defeated Mr Pan’s application for security for costs, when Deputy ICC Judge Frith found that security in these circumstances should be granted only in “exceptional” circumstances. Read more here.

In the substantive recognition proceedings, Mr Pan opposed the granting of a Recognition Order on a number of grounds including that (i) the ways in which the Trustees had formulated their claims in relation to the apartment in other jurisdictions were inconsistent, (ii) the relief the Trustees sought in proceedings in other jurisdictions would be adequate for their purposes, and (iii) the Recognition Order would serve no purpose which, Mr Pan argued, was akin to an “illegitimate” purpose.

ICC Judge Mullen rejecting Mr Pan’s arguments. In his Judgment, the Judge found that “there was nothing in the point that the Trustees had expressed the potential interest in [the apartment] in different ways at different times” and that the Trustees found themselves in the ”familiar position” of not having a “clear picture” of how the apartment was held. He also found that “it would be remiss of the Trustees to not deploy all the investigatory armory available to them to establish for their own satisfaction the position of the property, particularly in a complex bankruptcy such as this”. Accordingly, the Judge found that the requirements of the Cross-Border Regulations had been met and granted the Recognition Order.

The CANDEY team acting for the Trustees are Richard Singleton (Partner), Emily Higgins (Senior Solicitor), Dainyah Mason (Pupil Barrister) and Damian Remias (Paralegal).

CANDEY instructed Donald Lilly KC (4 Stone Buildings).

Seladore Legal acted for Mr Pan and instructed James Morgan KC (Radcliffe Chambers)