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In the latest judgment regarding the DPH liquidation,(1) the BVI Court of Appeal upheld the appointment of BVI provisional liquidators in respect of a Swiss company and clarified that evidence of dissipation of assets (in the Mareva sense) may not be a pre-condition to the appointment of provisional liquidators.

Facts

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.

5 What will happen if a Type A event occurs? If a Type A event occurs without appropriate steps being taken there can be a number of consequences. (i) Impact on relationship with pension scheme trustees Pension schemes have long term liabilities. Sponsoring employers therefore generally expect to have a long term relationship with the trustees of their scheme. That relationship could be damaged if a Type A event occurs and the trustees are not kept informed or if they consider that their concerns about such events have not been addressed.

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.

On May 9 2017 the Amsterdam Court of Appeals ruled that the Russian liquidation order of August 1 2006 regarding OAO Yukos Oil Company is contrary to Dutch public order and therefore null and void.(1) An interesting question is whether the judgment will have a bearing in the appeal of the annulment proceedings concerning the $50 billion Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) arbitration case between former Yukos shareholders and Russia, which is pending before The Hague Court of Appeal.

Introduction The number of financial institutions that have announced the relocation of their EU headquarters from the UK to Germany has increased during the last weeks. In the meantime, some of the largest US and Asian institutions have confirmed their plans to expand their operations in Germany, and we expect others to follow soon. How can we assist? This briefing shall provide you with an overview of a number of issues that may be of interest for your decision to expand your operations in Germany.