The office of the Registrar of Corporate Affairs (the “Registrar”) in the British Virgin Islands (the “BVI”) has responsibility for the incorporation, striking off and restoration of companies to the Register of Companies (the “Register”). There are two restoration processes in the BVI;
In the October 2016 edition of our dispute resolution and insolvency bulletin we will be focusing on six recent cases from the BVI Court of Appeal and BVI Commercial Court.
OVERVIEW
The cases, include:
In UVW v XYZ (27 October 2016), the BVI Court gave an important judgment in relation to the obligations of a registered agent to provide third party disclosure to assist a foreign judgment creditor trace assets. This judgment is a broadening of the Norwich Pharmacal jurisdiction. It will enable a judgment creditor who has no evidence of misuse of a specific corporate structure but who can evidence a general pattern of wilfully evasive conduct by the judgment debtor, as opposed to a mere failure to pay, to obtain third party disclosure in support of asset tracing or execution.
Insolvency law in the British Virgin Islands is almost entirely codified in the Insolvency Act 2003 and supplemented by the Insolvency Rule 2005. The Insolvency Act was modelled largely on the UK Insolvency Act 1986, but with a number of key differences. This update summarises its features.
In Stichting Shell Pensioenfonds v Krys [2014] UKPC 41, the Privy Council has held that where a company was being wound up in a jurisdiction where it was incorporated, and where a foreign creditor had submitted a proof of debt to the liquidators, that creditor had submitted to the jurisdiction of the administering court, and could not bring proceedings in its own jurisdiction with the aim of obtaining priority over other creditors.
Introduction
Introduction
Recently, the British Virgin Islands has seen a trend wherein debtors involved in winding-up proceedings have sought to identify what appear to be spurious disputes and then to rely on arbitration clauses in order to strike out or stay the winding-up proceedings. While this tactic could be regarded as capitalising on the wider global trend towards giving absolute primacy to arbitration agreements, it is often deployed to buy time for debtors and frustrate creditors that are legitimately seeking to wind up insolvent companies.
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS CAYMAN ISLANDS GUERNSEY JERSEY CAPE TOWN LONDON SINGAPORE CAREYOLSEN.COM 1 BVI LITIGATION & INSOLVENCY CLIENT UPDATE - MARCH 2016 Dispute Resolution & Litigation | Restructuring & Insolvency British Virgin Islands Welcome to our March 2016 BVI litigation and insolvency bulletin, co-authored by Ben Mays, Andrew Chissick and Jevaughn Rhymer.
Introduction
The British Virgin Islands' reputation as the leading offshore jurisdiction is well earned and it is dedicated to maintaining its status as a creditor-friendly and commercially flexible jurisdiction. The developments of 2015 are the latest example of its evolution as it continues to meet the needs of the global financial community. The following are the key developments to BVI law that are most likely to interest lenders and borrowers.
Introduction
Although the wishes of the majority of creditors (whether in number or by value) is an important factor in many decisions made in insolvency proceedings, the court retains discretion regarding whether a company should be placed into liquidation.