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Blumont director says bank breached duty by force-selling his shares
Rachel Scully
27 November 2013
Another shareholder caught in the trading debacle over the Blumont Group, LionGold Corp and Asiasons Capital penny stocks is suing global bank Goldman Sachs.
Mr James Hong claims the bank, which had given him a credit facility of more than $64 million, breached its duty of care when it force-sold his shares in the three firms last month.
He is the third person to take legal action against the bank.
Ipco International chief executive Quah Su-Ling and LionGold independent director Ng Su Ling, who is also Ipco’s company secretary, have both commenced legal proceedings.
Recent media reports said Ms Quah had loans in excess of $61 million with Goldman Sachs.
Singapore-based Mr Hong, an executive director at Blumont, first bought shares of Asiasons and LionGold in 2007.
Last year, he received some Blumont shares in his capacity as the firm’s executive director, according to documents filed with Britain’s High Court on Monday.
Mr Hong had also come to know Mr William Chan, chief executive and chairman of Stamford Management, last year.
Mr Chan offered to act as an investment consultant and assist Mr Hong in procuring loan facilities from banks for his investments.
He later told Mr Hong that Goldman Sachs would be willing to extend a loan facility to him against his shares in Asiasons and LionGold.
Mr Chan also introduced Ms Quah to the bank.
Mr Hong opened an account with Goldman Sachs in February this year, pledging his Asiasons shares in exchange for proceeds he could use to buy LionGold stock.
The size of his account with Goldman Sachs was estimated at about $12.4 million then.
In September, the bank agreed to fund the cost of the 1.75 million Blumont shares Mr Hong would take up as part of its rights issue.
However, things took a turn on Oct 2, a day after the Singapore Exchange (SGX) asked Blumont to explain how its market value had jumped more than 12 times to $6.3 billion within nine months.
Mr Hong’s court papers show that a Goldman Sachs representative e-mailed him a demand notice at 11.48am on Oct 2, stating that he had to repay the $64 million loan in cash by 1.30pm that same day, less than two hours later.
Mr Hong then received an e-mail at 1.36pm stating that as he had defaulted on his payments, Goldman Sachs would “exercise its rights to appropriate all or any of his assets it held” to pay off his loan.
The next day, Mr Hong told Goldman Sachs that he had obtained an alternative loan facility of $40 million from BHP International Markets in exchange for 27.4 million Asiasons shares.
Despite this proposal to pay off his loan, Goldman continued to sell his stakes in the three counters.
These transactions carried on through Oct 23, even after the SGX had lifted its designation status on the three stocks.
Mr Hong contends that Goldman Sachs had “arbitrarily, capriciously, perversely and irrationally” sold the shares even when their values had fallen by 70 to 90 per cent.
The bank continued to sell the shares even after the SGX announced that it was “apparently engaged in an investigation into the trading and price fluctuations” of the three stocks, alleges Mr Hong.
He is suing for damages, interest and costs.