UOB wins $76m in Marina Collection loan case

This is four times the $17.7m initially granted by the lower court.

United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) has been awarded $76.1m after the Appellate Division of the High Court partly allowed its appeal against Lippo Marina Collection Pte Ltd.

The award is over four times the $17.7m granted by the lower court in 2025.

The dispute involved housing loans UOB extended between 2011 and 2013 to buyers of 38 units at Marina Collection.

The court previously found that Lippo conspired with purchasers to state prices in options to purchase that were higher than the actual prices paid after undisclosed furniture rebates.

The bank consequently issued loans based on the higher stated prices, causing it to lend more than it would have had the actual purchase prices been disclosed.

In the latest judgment, the appellate court upheld the approach of calculating Lippo’s liability based on the excess portion of the loans, rather than treating the entire loans as losses caused by the developer.

However, it reversed the lower court’s decision to deduct about $37.2m in rental income and loan repayments from UOB’s damages.

UOB was awarded $51.3m in damages before interest, up from about $15.4m previously. The final award rose to $76.1m after including about $24.8m in pre- and post-judgment interest. 

The court found that the bank acted unreasonably by failing to seriously consider selling the repossessed units from 2017 onwards.

However, Lippo failed to show that an earlier sale would have reduced the losses attributable to it, so UOB’s damages were not reduced on that basis. The bank was also awarded $50,000 in costs for the appeal.