In In re Olinda Star Ltd., the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York granted a provisional liquidator’s request to recognize a certain British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) proceeding under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code. In doing so, the bankruptcy court held that the debtor satisfied 11 U.S.C. § 109(a) and venue because the New York indenture required New York as the venue for disputes, and the debtor had a client trust account at a law firm in New York. Further, the bankruptcy court held that the debtor satisfied the recognition requirements under 11 U.S.C. § 1517 as the BVI proceeding was a foreign main proceeding because, as of the petition date, the debtor’s center of its main interests was located in BVI—including the debtor’s registered office and place of incorporation; the location of the joint provisional liquidators; and the location understood by the debtor’s creditors that predominately supported the BVI scheme. The bankruptcy court recognized the provisional liquidator as a “foreign representative” under section 1517. For discretionary relief under 11 U.S.C. § 1521, the bankruptcy court granted the foreign representative’s requests including: (1) to grant full force and effect to the BVI Scheme within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States; (2) to issue a permanent injunction enjoining actions that would interfere with the implementation of the BVI scheme and order; and (4) to exculpate the joint provisional liquidators from certain liability.
