The following briefing provides a round-up of the Cayman legal and regulatory developments during the third quarter of 2022 that may be of interest to funds clients. We are pleased to note that there is nothing critical or requiring immediate action at this time.
Summary of recent legal and regulatory developments
The Supreme Court of New South Wales has recently handed down its decision in proceedings (“Arrium Proceedings”) brought by a number of lenders against former officers and employees of Arrium Limited and its subsidiaries (“Arrium”).
Introduction
Justice Ball’s landmark decision1 dismissing the lenders’ claims addressed various important issues that often arise when a borrower is facing financial distress in Australia, including:
The Australian Government has introduced new laws which are intended to avoid unnecessary corporate insolvencies in light of the challenges presented by the unfolding COVID-19 global pandemic. The new laws came into effect on 25 March 2020 and include:
In July 2017, we wrote about the case of Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd v Forge Group Power Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (receivers and managers appointed)[1], in which the Western Australian Supreme Court held that rights of set off enjoyed by an insolvent company’s contractual counterparties would not apply if the company had granted a security interest over the relevant contractual righ
In our previous blog post, we examined the decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal to uphold the composition of classes of creditors in the Boart Longyear restructuring by way of scheme of arrangement.
In the recent case of Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd v Forge Group Power Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (receivers and managers appointed)[1], the Western Australian Supreme Court has confirmed that the grant of a security interest under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (PPSA) by a company to a third party will likely render any rights of set-off enjoyed by the company’s contractual counterparties worthless where the company subs
In one of the most significant decisions relating to schemes of arrangement in Australia in recent years, the New South Wales Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal challenging the composition of classes of creditors in the Boart Longyear restructuring.
Over the past two or three years, we have seen an increasing number of cases where a client holds and wishes to sell or transfer shares in a Cayman Islands company which is in liquidation, or is seeking to purchase shares in such a company from another party. In those circumstances, the transfer of the shares would be void absent the validation of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, as a result of section 99 of the Companies Law (2013 Revision) ("Section 99"). Section 99 is in the following terms: