The timing of the commencement of the voluntary liquidation of a Cayman Islands company was often driven primarily by the desire to avoid incurring the following year’s annual government fees. To avoid those fees, the liquidation had to commence by December, with the final meeting being held before the end of January. This timetable resulted in an effective dissolution date into the next calendar year, while still avoiding the government fees for that year.
On 6 February 2018, the Irish Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in ACC Loan Management Limited v Rickard1 ("Rickard") in relation to the appointment of a receiver in aid of execution on the basis that the issue was one of general and public importance.
Background
As annual invoices are being generated for those BVI companies that are registered in the first half of the year, it is time to start planning the liquidation of those entities that have reached the end of their life cycle, to ensure that unnecessary fees are not incurred.
In order to prevent the expense of annual 2018 government registration fees, an appointed voluntary liquidator will be required to file the final notice for a company on or before 31 May 2018. In order to meet this deadline, we recommend that the voluntary liquidation commence prior to 30 April 2018.
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).
Costello J in the High Court recently gave judgment in the case of In re James Coady (a Former Bankrupt) [2017] IEHC 653. In this case the Official Assignee ("OA") had sought directions in respect of what rights could vest in the OA from the bankrupt's pre-retirement personal pension policy (the "PP"). The bankrupt had reached normal retirement age under the PP after he was adjudicated bankrupt but before he was discharged from bankruptcy.
Costello J in the High Court recently gave judgment in the case of In re James Coady (a Former Bankrupt) [2017] IEHC 653. In this case the Official Assignee ("OA") had sought directions in respect of what rights could vest in the OA from the bankrupt's pre-retirement personal pension policy (the "PP"). The bankrupt had reached normal retirement age under the PP after he was adjudicated bankrupt but before he was discharged from bankruptcy.
Examinership A number of significant decisions were made by the High Court and Court of Appeal relating to different aspects of the examinership process in 2017. |
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
In Wingview Limited t/a Elphin Public House v Ennis Property Finance DAC the High Court granted an interlocutory injunction prohibiting the defendant from appointing a receiver over Elphin Public House, the Dublin pub which featured in the film "The Van" (1996).
The Court of Appeal recently ruled, in Re KH Kitty Hall Holdings & Ors, that an agreement to restructure and discharge the secured debts of a number of companies by selling certain secured assets was not a bar to the appointment of an examiner to those companies. This was the case despite the fact that the application for the appointment of an examiner was inconsistent with the obligations imposed on the companies under the restructuring agreement and was objected to by the secured creditor.