Lenders owed more than $700 million have called for an independent trustee to take over a bankruptcy liquidation of China Fishery Group, which they have accused of stalling efforts to repay them, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. In court papers filed on Monday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, lawyers for the lender group said they see “grave risk” in allowing the family that founded and controls the company — the Ng family — to remain in charge. “The need for transparency and independent oversight has been a substantial concern of the [lenders] for some time,” they said. “The stakeholders have lost all faith in the Ng family properly using chapter 11 to best serve creditors’ interests.” Ng Puay Yee, the company’s chief executive officer, has hinted that lenders may try to wrest control of the company away from its current management. In court papers filed in June when China Fishery sought chapter 11 protection, Ng said his business was “in jeopardy as a result of the aggressive and improper acts by certain lenders.”
