A recent BVI Court of Appeal decision in KMG International NV v DP Holding SA serves as a useful reminder to keep an eye on the clock when seeking the appointment of liquidators to a company in the British Virgin Islands.
KMG had filed an originating application seeking the appointment of liquidators to DPH (a company incorporated in Switzerland) and had successfully applied for:
Claims of passing off are rare in the British Virgin Islands and a recent attempt to bring a BVI action in relation to goodwill held outside the jurisdiction has failed.(1)
The claimants were Egyptian private equity investors with over $516 million in assets under management and a long, respected track record in development and management of various investment projects in the Egyptian market.
The defendants included a former employee of the claimants and the companies through which he operated.
The recent BVI Court of Appeal decision in KMG International NV v DP Holding SA serves as a useful reminder to keep an eye on the clock when seeking the appointment of liquidators to a company in the BVI.
On 6 November 2017 the BVI Commercial Court, sitting in St Lucia, placed Sherbrooke Group Limited (Sherbrooke) into liquidation. Mark McDonald and Michael Leeds of Grant Thornton were appointed as Sherbrooke’s liquidators.
Peter Ferrer, of the British Virgin Islands office of Harneys, reviews forum shopping, Chapter 11 protection and just and equitable winding up, with an in-depth look at the Pacific Andes saga is the practice of choosing the most favourable jurisdiction in which to bring a claim. It is often used as a pejorative – a form of jurisdictional gamesmanship – but in principle, there is nothing wrong in seeking to have a case heard in the forum which is most favourable to the client.
`Forum shopping' is the practice of choosing the most favourable jurisdiction in which a claim could be heard. It is often used as a pejorative, a form of jurisdictional gamesmanship, but, in principle, there is nothing wrong in seeking to have the case heard in the forum which is most favourable to the client. It can however lead to some fierce jurisdictional battles particularly in insolvency where the choice can be stark between debtor and creditor friendly procedures.
In a decision signed July 17, 2017 in the Our Alchemy, LLC bankruptcy (case 16-11596), Judge Gross of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court granted a trustee’s partial motion to dismiss a complaint, holding that a creditor cannot assert general claims against a Chapter 7 Trustee in his official capacity (essentially a derivative action meant to enrich the creditor body) .
On July 6-7, 2017, Craig Jalbert, in his capacity as Trustee for F2 Liquidating Trust, filed approximately 187 complaints seeking the avoidance and recovery of allegedly preferential and/or fraudulent transfers under Sections 547, 548 and 550 of the Bankruptcy Code (depending on the nature of the claims). In certain instances, the Trustee also seeks to disallow claims of such defendants under Sections 502(d) and (j) of the Bankruptcy Code.
On May 11 2017 the British Virgin Islands adopted new guidelines for communication and cooperation between courts in cross-border insolvency matters.
We have previously posted about a couple major milestones for Green Field Energy – here Green Field Energy Files for Bankruptcy Protection in Delaware and here: Green Field Energy Services – Preference A