If a company becomes insolvent or experiences a liquidity crunch, which necessitates a restructuring or resort to higher-risk financing arrangements, the directors should consider whether to commence formal proceedings to facilitate the restructuring or financing.

On May 20, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an 8-1 ruling in the case of Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC. The decision resolves a circuit split, holding that a licensee may retain its right to use licensed trademarks, notwithstanding the debtor-licensor’s rejection of the contract in bankruptcy. The Supreme Court’s decision has potentially far-reaching implications.

In normal circumstances, a director’s primary duty (owed to the company, not the company’s shareholders or the corporate group) is to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its shareholders as a whole. When a company enters a period of financial distress (the so-called “zone of insolvency”) there is a shift of emphasis in the duties of the directors: directors must consider the interests of the company’s creditors and, depending on the extent of the financial distress, may need to prioritise such interests over those of its members.

When a company enters a period of financial distress, directors must consider the interests of the company’s creditors and, depending on the extent of the financial distress, may need to prioritise such interests over those of its members. In such distressed situations, the key current heads of liability directors may face (for which they may potentially incur personal liabilities) include wrongful trading, fraudulent trading, misfeasance and breach of duty.

On April 23, 2019, Ropes & Gray, representing a large group of shareholder defendants, won a decision in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that provides potential fraudulent transfer protection for payments made to shareholders in leveraged buyouts, stock redemptions and other securities transactions.

Constructive Fraudulent Transfer Claims and the Securities Safe Harbor

Not for a long time has the importance of understanding and managing a director’s duties in times of financial distress been so overwhelming. Here, Carey Olsen partner David Jones and associate Tim Molton examine those duties in greater detail, particularly in relation to Guernsey’s company law.

Service area / Restructuring and Insolvency

Location / British Virgin Islands

Date / February 2019

This article considers how to challenge an act, omission or decision of an office-holder.

The right to bring a challenge derives from Section 273 of the BVI Insolvency Act 2003, which provides:

A person aggrieved by an act, omission or decision of an office holder may apply to the Court and the Court may confirm, reverse or modify the act, omission or decision of the office holder.

Zone of insolvency - directors in the firing line

Happy New Year?

2018 saw a number of high profile insolvencies around the world, including in Guernsey. The climate for many sectors remains extremely challenging with the UK further hindered by continuing uncertainty around Brexit. EY's Profit Warning Stress Index hit its joint highest level for two years in the third quarter of 2018 with 68 UK quoted companies issuing profit warnings.

The Court of Appeal of Jersey has now considered in an appeal against the Royal Court’s decision of 10 January 2018 the case of a UK trustee in bankruptcy (the “Trustee”), whose appointment had been recognised in Jersey by order of the Court and who had been authorised to obtain documents and/or information for particular purposes, who was later subject to coercive measures in his home jurisdiction requiring the disclosure of such material for different, unauthorised purposes (in this case an Information Notice issued by HMRC pursuant to Schedule 36 of the UK Finance Act 2008 (the “

The Supreme Court of Bermuda has confirmed once again its willingness to order Confidentiality Orders in cases that involve the administration of private trusts. In the 2018 case of In the Matter of the E Trust (the “E Trust”), Acting Justice, Shade Subair Williams (subsequently appointed as a Puisne Judge) reaffirmed previous rulings that private trust proceedings can be anonymized and heard privately in Chambers.

The Facts