Oil trader Hin Leong has no future as independent company: PwC

The accounting firm found a number of irregularities in the oil trader’s finances.

Singapore’s Hin Leong Trading has no future as an independent company after it “grossly overstated” the value of its assets by at least $4.17b ($3b), according to a preliminary report prepared by a court-appointed supervisor.

In the report filed this week in Singapore’s High Court and reviewed by Reuters, the interim judicial managers from PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services (PwC) said they had found a significant number of irregularities in the oil trader’s finances.

Two sources close to the matter confirmed the findings, which were based on documents and interviews with Hin Leong employees in a two-month investigation into its finances and trading activities.

Hin Leong and PwC did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. A spokesman for Rajah & Tann, the legal adviser to the interim judicial managers, declined comment.

Hin Leong, one of Asia’s largest oil traders, was placed under so-called judicial management in April after banks demanded repayment of loans as oil prices crashed and the coronavirus swept across the globe.

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