The long awaited reforms to Cayman Islands restructuring laws will come into force on 31 August 2022. The formal gazetting of these laws today (29 July 2022) has helpfully provided a hard-and-fast commencement date.
Debtors will now be able to file in the Cayman Islands court for the appointment of restructuring officers and obtain an immediate stay on unsecured creditor action, without the need to file a winding up petition.
These new proceedings, while retaining all that is positive with the prior law, will significantly enhance the Cayman Islands restructuring regime by:
In appointing restructuring provisional liquidators ("RPLs") to the Cayman Islands incorporated company, CW Group Holdings Limited ("CW"), in the face of opposition from a creditor seeking a remedy that may have led to CW's liquidation, the Cayman Islands court has reinforced its reputation in (i) putting company rescue first and (ii) seeking to ensure that returns to creditors are maximised. A significant step has also been taken in applying a more commercial and pragmatic reality to the question of officeholder independence.
With two decisions (No. 1895/2018 and No. 1896/2018), both filed on 25 January 2018, the Court of Cassation reached opposite conclusions in the two different situations
The case
The Constitutional Court (6 December 2017) confirmed that Art. 147, para. 5, of the Italian Bankruptcy Law does not violate the Constitution as long as it is interpreted in a broad sense
The case
With the decision No. 1195 of 18 January 2018, the Court of Cassation ruled on the powers of the extraordinary commissioner to require performance of pending contracts and on the treatment of the relevant claims of the suppliers
The case
In a decision that does much to reassert legal certainty for investors in Cayman Islands funds the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal ("CICA") has overruled a decision of the Grand Court concerning the circumstances in which an official liquidator of a solvent company could rectify the register of members, in In the matter of Herald Fund SPC (in official liquidation).
The Court of Cassation with a decision of 25 September 2017, No. 22274 confirms that Art. 74 of the Italian Bankruptcy Law provides a special rule, which does not apply to cases to which it is not explicitly extended
The case
With the decision No. 1649 of 19 September 2017 the Court of Appeals of Catania followed the interpretation according to which a spin-off is not subject to the avoiding powers of a bankruptcy receiver
The case
Consolidated and amended insolvency and restructuring rules and regulations come into force in the Cayman Islands on 1 February 2018 (the "Amended Rules").
The Amended Rules do not represent a comprehensive overhaul of the rules and regulations but they do make a number of significant changes to the procedural aspects of Cayman Islands domestic and cross-border insolvency and restructuring legislation. These changes largely reflect and codify existing practice.
Companies Winding Up Rules