British Steamship Protection And Indemnity Association Limited & Anor v Charles Thresh & Anor

Q: Which legislation does [2024] SGCA 43 consider?

The judgment refers to Companies Act (Cap 50) and Insurance Act (Cap 142). The statutes cited are listed in full on this page, each linking to its primary text.

[2024] SGCA 43 Court of Appeal 24 October 2024 CA/CA 2/2024 43 min read

7 cases cited

Outcome

Appeal dismissed

we dismissed the appeal.

Source: [2024] SGCA 43, Court of Appeal, decided 24 October 2024. Read directly from the judgment.

Key facts

Court	Court of Appeal
Decided	24 October 2024
Judges	Belinda Ang, Kannan Ramesh, Sundaresh Menon
Charges / claim	Insolvency Law
Outcome	Appeal dismissed
Counsel	Achievers LLC, Drew & Napier LLC, Allister Brendan Tan Yu Kuan, Joelle Tan, Mohamed Ibrahim s/o Mohamed Yakub, Siraj Omar, Yasmin Binte Abdullah

Source: [2024] SGCA 43, Court of Appeal, decided 24 October 2024 — eLitigation. Updated 25 June 2026.

Catchwords

Insolvency Law — Cross-border insolvency — Recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings — Activities of a regulated company, if illegitimate, are excluded from consideration in assessing a company’s centre of main interests

Practice Areas

Insolvency Law

Judges (3)

Belinda Ang Coram Kannan Ramesh Delivered Sundaresh Menon Coram

Counsel (7)

Achievers LLC Firm Drew & Napier LLC Firm Allister Brendan Tan Yu Kuan Counsel Respondent Joelle Tan Counsel Respondent Mohamed Ibrahim s/o Mohamed Yakub Counsel Appellant Siraj Omar Counsel Respondent Yasmin Binte Abdullah Counsel Appellant

Parties (4)

British Steamship Management Ltd Appellant British Steamship Protection And Indemnity Association Limited Appellant Charles Thresh Respondent Michael Morrison Respondent

Case Significance

In British Steamship Protection and Indemnity Association Ltd and another v Thresh, Charles and another [2024] SGCA 43, the Court of Appeal addressed a cross-border insolvency question concerning the recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings and the assessment of a company's centre of main interests. The subject company had applied for and obtained a licence from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (the "BMA") to carry on insurance business "in and from within Bermuda" within the meaning of the Bermuda Insurance Act 1978 (the "Bermuda IA"), and incorporated in Bermuda for this purpose. The licence terms centralised the underwriting of insurance business in Bermuda and imposed measures enabling the BMA to exercise regulatory oversight. The company initially complied but later failed to comply with the terms of its licence while continuing to underwrite insurance from operations outside Bermuda purportedly under that licence. The central question was whether the company's insurance activities outside Bermuda, undertaken in breach of its licence, should count when assessing its centre of main interests. Kannan Ramesh JAD delivered the grounds of decision of the court, sitting with Sundaresh Menon CJ and Belinda Ang JCA, on 24 October 2024.

[2024] SGCA 43 explained

British Steamship Protection And Indemnity Association Limited & Anor v Charles Thresh & Anor ([2024] SGCA 43) is a Singapore judgment decided by the Court of Appeal on 24 October 2024. It is categorised under Insolvency Law. 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 [2024] SGCA 43 about?

British Steamship Protection And Indemnity Association Limited & Anor v Charles Thresh & Anor ([2024] SGCA 43) is a Court of Appeal decision from 2024. Its published catchwords are “Insolvency Law — Cross-border insolvency — Recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings — Activities of a regulated company, if illegitimate, are excluded from consideration in assessing a company’s centre of main interests”, which indicate the subject matter the judgment addresses. The full reasoning and orders are in the judgment itself, linked below.

Which legislation does [2024] SGCA 43 consider?

The judgment refers to Companies Act (Cap 50) and Insurance Act (Cap 142). The statutes cited are listed in full on this page, each linking to its primary text.

What was the central issue in British Steamship Protection and Indemnity Association v Thresh [2024] SGCA 43?

The Court of Appeal considered whether the subject company's insurance activities carried on outside Bermuda in breach of its Bermuda Monetary Authority licence should be taken into account when assessing the company's centre of main interests for recognising foreign insolvency proceedings.

Which judges decided [2024] SGCA 43 and who delivered the decision?

The Court of Appeal comprised Sundaresh Menon CJ, Belinda Ang JCA and Kannan Ramesh JAD. Kannan Ramesh JAD delivered the grounds of decision of the court, dated 24 October 2024, in this cross-border insolvency appeal concerning centre of main interests.