Trial to go ahead as feuding family of late Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok fail to reach settlement after two weeks of talks
- High Court on Friday hears family members fail to reach agreement, despite ‘very great efforts’ during negotiations
- Justice David Lok calls latest development ‘very unexpected’, warns cost of court proceedings will be ‘massive’
The late Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung’s feuding family will proceed with the trial to resolve their dispute over his HK$11.3 billion (US$1.45 billion) estate in an unexpected twist following two weeks of settlement talks.
The High Court on Friday heard that the family members have failed to reach an agreement, despite the “very great efforts” during negotiations.
Mr Justice David Lok Kai-hong, who had granted six adjournments to facilitate the talks, said he was “certainly disappointed” by the “very unexpected” development.
“I’m at a loss for words,” the judge said. “We have to start the trial.”
Fok married three times and had 13 children before he died of cancer at the age of 83 in 2006. All his family members and a number of companies reached a settlement over his estate in 2012.
But a rift emerged among the children from Fok’s first marriage, with Benjamin Fok Chun-yue, Nora Fok Lai-lor and Patricia Fok Lai-ping accusing their brothers, Ian Fok Chun-wan and former legislator Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, of not disclosing the details of a project in mainland China.
Feuding family of late Hong Kong tycoon ‘very, very close’ to settlement
At the heart of the latest dispute is a single share of their late father’s dream project in Nansha, in Guangzhou, which was transferred from a subsidiary of Henry Fok Estates to the Fok Ying Tung Foundation in 1997, with a buy-back option that eventually expired in 2007, leaving the interest with the charity.
The court heard five days of opening speeches, with Ian denying any breach of his fiduciary duties, and the other family members from his father’s second and third marriages urging the court not to set aside their 2012 settlement agreement.
But all parties put the brakes on the trial before the first witness was called last week, in response to the judge’s call for them to consider alternatives to further litigation.
On Friday, Ian’s counsel, Wong Yan-lung SC, revealed that the first family have settled their differences with the foundation but have failed to reach an agreement with the second and third families despite their “very great efforts and intensive discussions”.
“It’s very regrettable,” Wong said. “A lot has been done by the primary parties.”
“Frankly, I don’t understand the position,” the judge replied.
The second and third families have previously complained that they have been unwillingly “dragged” into this litigation but “would not stand in the way of any attempt to settle the dispute”.
Explaining the latest stance of the second and third families, their counsel Samuel Wong Chat-chor said they were happy to settle proceedings concerning that one share, but could not agree on the broader issues that have been presented to them during the confidential negotiations.
“My clients cannot be forced to accept all those terms,” he said.
The judge reminded all parties that there would be cost implications based on how they conducted the case and the cost of the proceedings would be “massive”.
“I’m not pointing fingers now but certainly fingers will be pointed when the cost is to be decided,” Lok warned.
The case was adjourned until February 7, with Benjamin expected to testify as the first witness.
Benjamin was the only family member to attend the court on Friday.
When asked if he was disappointed by the outcome, Benjamin told reporters: “It’s a little regrettable.”
But he did not comment further when asked about the second and third families.
