A Pyrrhic Victory for Unjust Enrichment in Singapore? Esben Finance Ltd v Wong Hou‐Lianq Neil

Abstract

In Esben Finance Ltd v Wong Hou‐Lianq Neil (Esben) the Singapore Court of Appeal handed down a momentous judgment, holding that, unlike in England and Wales, unjust enrichment claims in Singapore could not be time‐barred under the Limitation Act, laches would not apply, and ‘lack of consent’ should be accepted as an unjust factor, subject to circumscribed limits. These are novel stances, unheard of anywhere else in the common law world. We suggest, moreover, that Esben is of potentially greater significance: it is important evidence that Singapore has adopted a distinctive approach towards unjust enrichment. Under this gradually crystallising vision, unjust enrichment is characterised as a new area of law, with independent status but only an interstitial role. This vision, which draws a sharp divide between common law and equity and places unjust enrichment under the common law umbrella, is likely to have far‐reaching consequences for the subject's future development.