ING Sues ICBC for $171 Million Over Copper Trading Issues

BEIJING, April 26 (TMTPOST) – Amsterdam-based ING is suing China’s largest bank for $171 million due to a breach of contract related to a deal involving Maike Group, the largest private company in China’s Shaanxi province, according to a Hong Kong court filing.
The case brought by ING against the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was heard by the High Court of Hong Kong on April 12. According to court documents, ING claimed that ICBC violated the terms of their contract by issuing export documents without receiving payment for a metal transaction involving Maike, resulting in a loss of $171 million for ING.
The transaction involved Maike and Triway International Limited (TIL), a Hong Kong-registered company. According to public information, the seller company TIL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Maike, with Maike’s Chairman He Jinbi as TIL’s Director.
In court documents, ING claimed that ICBC was contractually obligated to issue export documents after receiving a payment of $171 million between June 8 and August 16, 2022 based on 30 written collection instructions. However, ICBC failed to comply with the agreement and issued the relevant documents before receiving the payment, resulting in ING suffering losses. The role of ING in the trade was not specified.
According to a Financial Times report, sources close to ING revealed that Maike and TIL opened bank accounts with ICBC and ING respectively, with ING providing financing for TIL. The report also quoted insiders as saying that the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission had inquired with ING about the case due to concerns over potential reputational damage to China’s largest state-owned asset management bank.
ICBC has responded to the lawsuit and may object on jurisdictional grounds. The commercial dispute has attracted attention due to the reoccurring negative news in the commodities trading sector in recent years and the chain reaction caused by Maike’s debt crisis, which resulted in ICBC being sued by ING. The biggest problem now is how the company will be restructured under the leadership of the local government.
Sources close to Maike have revealed that the company has a capital hole in billions of yuan. He confirmed in mid-November 2022 that the company was undergoing asset restructuring and may introduce a new major shareholder. He also stated that many things would be led by the Xi’an municipal government.
On January 20, 2023, Xiamen Xindeco (000701.SZ), a local state-owned enterprise in Fujian Province, announced that it had filed an arbitration application with the Xiamen Arbitration Commission. The application concerns Maike and its subsidiary Shenzhen Meike’s failure to fulfill a procurement contract and agency import agreement, with a total arbitration amount of 1.09 billion yuan. This amount includes about 1 billion yuan in arrears for goods payment.

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