2023 was a monumental year for the development of Singapore case law on restructuring and insolvency.

Insolvency set-off is an important quasi-security device for parties engaging in trade or other dealings with a company. It enables mutual debts owed between a party and a company to be set off against each other if the company goes into judicial management or liquidation.

The Court of Appeal has, in Foo Kian Beng v OP3 International Pte Ltd (in liquidation) [2024] SGCA 10 (OP3 International), comprehensively considered the contours of a director’s duty to consider the interest of creditors in certain circumstances (Creditor Duty). In this important decision, the apex court examined when the Creditor Duty first becomes engaged as well as the nature, scope and content of the duty.