China Evergrande liquidators seek judicial review of SFC agreement with PwC Hong Kong
Failed developer’s creditors have been made HK$1 billion worse off by the agreement, liquidators say
The writ filed with Hong Kong’s High Court seeks leave to apply for a judicial review of the Securities and Futures Commission’s (SFC) agreement with PwC Hong Kong and an order preventing the regulator from taking further steps to implement the settlement. The document was filed on Friday and became public on Monday.
Following inquiries by the South China Morning Post, PwC Hong Kong and the SFC said they did not wish to comment.
The liquidators – Tiffany Wong Wing-sze and Eddie Middleton of Alvarez & Marsal – wrote to the SFC on May 8, identifying their concerns over the agreement and urging the commission not to take any further steps to implement it. However, the SFC rejected the requests a few days later, the writ said.
The liquidators are seeking a judicial review because, they argued, “China Evergrande Group’s creditors are made HK$1 billion worse off by the agreement”. PwC Hong Kong’s assets are unlikely to cover both the agreement with the SFC and the separate lawsuits by the liquidators, it added.
“In entering into the agreement, the SFC failed to consider the interests of China Evergrande Group and its creditors, and specifically, did not consider whether the agreement would unfairly prejudice China Evergrande Group and its creditors,” the writ said.