引言

英国终审法院最近就 BTI 2014 LLC 诉 Sequana SA 及其他 [2022 UKSC 25] 一案(“Sequana 案”)颁布一份万众期待的判决。Sequana 案的法理将于开曼群岛以至其他普通法司法管辖权区成为极具说服力的法律根据。

Sequana 案是一项有用的判决,原因如下:

  • 该案不但确认董事对股东负有受信责任而须真诚以公司最佳利益行事的传统观点,同时指出董事于公司无力偿债或濒临无力偿债或可能进行无力偿债清盘或管理时,须考虑债权人利益或以其行事(“债权人利益责任”)。
  • Sequana 为英国终审法院审理的首宗案件裁定董事于哪些情况下必须考虑公司债权人利益,不论债权人利益责任可否于公司无力偿债前触发,以及股东可否认可对债权人利益责任的潜在违反。

背景

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The full strength of the economic headwinds facing the UK economy is not yet clear, but a helpful recent report by insolvency and restructuring adviser Begbies Traynor provided some useful numbers around the attitudes of businesses.

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Facts
Decision

Comment


The approach of the Cayman Grand Court to the terms and timing of the discharge of provisional liquidators taken inIn the Matter of Star International Drilling Ltd may provide a window into what is expected to be a similarly flexible approach to the appointment of restructuring officers.(1)

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With local and global inflation at their highest in decades, rising interest rates, continuing supply chain woes and the effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict being felt across Asia, many businesses that are established in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the Cayman Islands are scrutinising the available tools to avoid liquidity issues and potential insolvency. The economic fallout from covid-19 and related restrictive measures, along with bond defaults by various PRC property developers, has only exacerbated this crisis.

A recent decision of the Cayman Islands Grand Court is an important reminder that a liquidator's costs claimed from trust assets must be proportionate and reasonable, and will be refused on certain grounds.

Background

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在各类跨境投资的项目中,投资人最担心的问题莫过于被投企业的财务状况出现困境,影响其持续经营能力和偿债能力并最终演变为债务危机,或者集团的持股结构、治理结构不够透明,各种交叉持股盘根错节。在重组过程中,投资者可能会帮助公司梳理、调整各种投资主体架构,而企业为了解除投资者顾虑,有时也会主动进行投资主体架构的重组和优化,包括把多余的主体和结构层级精简掉。

在跨境投资的架构中,往往涉及到多层持股架构,开曼公司、BVI公司以及香港公司都是常见的持股主体。如果我们在重组中需要把这些主体精简注销,需要走什么样的程序,复杂不复杂?在本文中,我们将与大家分享开曼豁免有限公司的清盘和解散,并且后续文章中陆续与大家分享其他法域主体的清算和注销。

The Cayman Islands' Companies (Amendment) Act, 2021 (the Amendment Act) has now come into force. The Amendment Act introduces a new corporate restructuring process and the concept of a dedicated 'restructuring officer' into the Cayman Islands Companies Act (2022 Revision). Under the Amendment Act, the filing of a petition for the appointment of a restructuring officer triggers an automatic global moratorium on claims against the company, giving it the opportunity to seek to implement a restructuring.

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