The High Court of Australia in CGU Insurance Ltd v Blakeley & Ors [2016] HCA 2 unanimously confirmed that a third party can join a defendant’s insurer to a proceeding and seek a declaration of rights under the insurance agreement, provided that third party has a ‘real interest’ in the performance of the agreement and that there is practical utility in the court providing that declaration.

A Carey Olsen regulatory team consisting of Guernsey partner Mark Dunster and associate Luke Sayer, have had a significant success for their client, a leading financial services business (the “Liquidator” or “Applicant”), by successfully making an application for the restoration of a Guernsey company – previously a property holding company (the “Company”) - pursuant to the Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008, as amended (the “Companies Law”).

THE ISSUE

Today, by a majority of 3-2, the High Court of Australia in Commissioner of Taxation v Australian Building Systems Pty Ltd (in liq) [2015] HCA 48 confirmed that s 254(1)(d) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) (ITAA 1936) does not impose an obligation on trustees (including administrators, receivers and liquidators) to retain sufficient moneys from the trust fund to pay tax unless a relevant assessment has been issued.

The Turnbull Government’s much-heralded ‘Innovation Statement’ was released yesterday. It contained wide-ranging statements on reforms aimed at fostering innovation across a number of sectors in the Australian economy.

One important reform area is in Australian corporate insolvency law.

Corporate insolvency law reform timetable

The Innovation Statement includes important content for the reform of Australia’s corporate insolvency laws. It is part of an ongoing reform exercise which has followed this timetable to date:

INTRODUCTION

The Royal Court of Guernsey has taken the welcome step of dedicating specific court time to company and insolvency matters.

THE PRACTICE DIRECTION

In an important judgment published last week, the Royal Court of Jersey has provided guidance to trustees and other holders of fiduciary powers in relation to the exercise of powers when a trust is considered to be “insolvent”. Counsel in the case was unable to find any relevant authority on this subject in any other trusts jurisdiction, so this may well be one of the first cases to deal with this issue.

Consider this situation: a dispute has arisen between two parties in relation to an agreement which is subject to an arbitration clause. Separately, a winding up application has been made against one of the parties to the arbitration in the jurisdiction in which it is incorporated. An arbitral award is obtained against the potentially insolvent company. That company has assets in Hong Kong, against which the creditor is now seeking to enforce their rights.

The unanimous decision by the Full Court of the Federal Court in Templeton v Australian and Securities Investments Commission [2015] FCAFC 137 confirms that the concept of proportionality is a well-recognised factor in considering the question of reasonable remuneration for an insolvency practitioner, and that, in assessing a remuneration claim, the Court can take into account the quality and complexity of the work as well as the value and nature of any property dealt with and the time reasonably spent.

british virgin islands cayman islands guernsey jersey cape town london www.careyolsen.com 1 bvi litigation & insolvency client update - SEPTEMBER 2015 Dispute Resolution & Litigation | Restructuring & Insolvency British Virgin Islands Welcome to our September BVI litigation and insolvency bulletin, co-authored by Ben Mays, Andrew Chissick and Jevaughn Rhymer. This edition of the bulletin contains reports on four recent cases: • Privy Council authority concerning a contested, Court-run auction of a property arising in the liquidation of a well-known luxury Caribbean resort.

General introduction to trust margin trading