The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has issued its first judgment appointing Restructuring Officers under the new section 91B of the Cayman Islands Companies Act, which came into force on 31 August 2022.
Introduction
Amendments to Guernsey's corporate insolvency legislation give liquidators more investigative powers and permit liquidators and administrators to set aside transactions at undervalue.
One of the most powerful investigative weapons in any liquidator's armoury is the ability to compel the production from third parties of information and documents regarding the affairs of the company. Until recently, the precise scope of the liquidator's ability to seek production of such information or documents in Guernsey has been uncertain, relying on ill-defined common law powers.
The Royal Court in Guernsey will soon be able to wind up foreign companies.
Recent changes to Guernsey's insolvency regime will mean that, for the first time, foreign companies can be compulsorily wound up in Guernsey.
The Southern District of New York vacated a bankruptcy court’s judgment holding a debtor’s business competitor (C) “in contempt for violation of the [Bankruptcy Code’s] automatic stay…and assessing sanctions” of $19.2 million. In re Windstream Holdings, Inc., 2022 WL 5245633, *1 (2) (S.D.N.Y. Oct 6, 2022).
The unique circumstances of the last few years (and hard-charging investors) have forced many borrowers without adequate near-term liquidity to engage in more creative and aggressive liability-management transactions. These transactions have often taken the form of "uptiering" financings.
Long-awaited amendments to Guernsey's corporate insolvency legislation will come into force on 1 January 2023.
Introduced by the Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (Insolvency) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, the provisions are aimed at further improving and updating Guernsey's corporate insolvency regime. The amendments stem from a wide-ranging consultation finalised in 2017 and represent the most significant development of Guernsey's insolvency law since 2008.
The amendments introduce a number of key changes to the law:
Liquidation
In the recent judgement of In the matter of SPARC Group Limited (en désastre) [2022] JRC 194 (SPARC Group), the Royal Court of Jersey considered the appropriate test for the making of a disqualification order against a director, with the stark nature of the facts justifying a lengthy term of disqualification.
Background
The application for a disqualification order was made by the Viscount, in respect of Andrew Jeremy Mills (Mr Mills), who was the sole director of SPARC Group Limited (the Company), a property development business.
Two decisions handed down on the same day – one by the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal and the other by the Commercial Division of the High Court – illustrate the approach of British Virgin Islands Courts to applications to appoint liquidators in circumstances where the subject matter of a dispute as to the existence of a debt falls within the scope of an arbitration agreement.
Introduction
A summary winding up is the procedure used to wind up a solvent Jersey company under the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991 (the 1991 Law).
This guide examines the procedure for carrying out a summary winding up.
Steps
The steps necessary to carry out a summary winding up are as follows:
Four years after New York grocery chain Tops’ exit from Chapter 11, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain ruled that the Tops’ Chapter 11 trustee may proceed with litigation against certain private equity investors. The trustee alleged that the investors drove the company into bankruptcy by paying themselves more than $375 million in dividends while neglecting to address Tops’ unfunded pension liabilities.