The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands (the "Grand Court") recently considered the statutory moratorium against commencing proceedings against a Cayman Islands company which has been placed into liquidation. In the case of BDO Cayman Ltd. and BDO Trinity Ltd. v Ardent Harmony Fund Inc.
Rumours that a company is in the zone of insolvency may create a race to the assets, with potential creditors or interested parties commencing proceedings in an attempt to secure payment from the company before its assets are fully dissipated or tied up in the insolvency process. This can destroy the collective value in the enterprise or scupper a restructuring and result in significant duplicative costs.
A temporary Scheme was introduced in March 2009
The purpose of the temporary Scheme is to ensure that former employees of insolvent businesses receive a reasonable amount of compensation promptly, where they are owed money by their former employers.
In a White Paper published on 03 December 2009 the States proposed to introduce a permanent Scheme. The deadline for respondents to submit their views was Friday 05 February 2010