Can’t get no satisfaction? Sometimes you can! Would you prefer to have security to cover a debt or the cash in the bank, challenges?

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS CAYMAN ISLANDS GUERNSEY JERSEY CAPE TOWN LONDON SINGAPORE CAREYOLSEN.COM 1 BVI LITIGATION & INSOLVENCY CLIENT UPDATE - MARCH 2016 Dispute Resolution & Litigation | Restructuring & Insolvency British Virgin Islands Welcome to our March 2016 BVI litigation and insolvency bulletin, co-authored by Ben Mays, Andrew Chissick and Jevaughn Rhymer.

1 / FEBRUARY 2016 | Guernsey Insolvency Law Consultation BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS CAYMAN ISLANDS GUERNSEY JERSEY CAPE TOWN LONDON SINGAPORE CAREYOLSEN.COM FEBRUARY 2016 RESTRUCTURING & INSOLVENCY GUERNSEY INSOLVENCY LAW CONSULTATION 2 / FEBRUARY 2016 | Guernsey Insolvency Law Consultation INTRODUCTION On 11 February 2016, the Guernsey Commerce and Employment Department published a consultation response document to set out the proposals the Department is going to take forward for the reform of Guernsey’s personal and corporate insolvency laws (the Consultation Response).

Obtaining Decree

In most circumstances, court proceedings will need to be raised by creditors to recover outstanding sums owed. Depending on the amount due, the action will be a Small Claim (up to and including £3,000) a Summary Cause (over £3,000 and up to and including £5,000) or an Ordinary Action (over £5,000). 

After obtaining a Decree (or judgement in England) there are a number of steps that can be taken, if the debtor does not make payment, to recover the outstanding debt. In Scotland this process is known as “diligence”. 

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

It was anticipated that more radical thoughts would emerge from Lord Justice Jackson’s latest speech last night to the Insolvency Practitioners’ Association on the subject of rolling out more fixed costs, and so it proved.

In the case of Bibby Factors Northwest Limited v HFD Limited and MCD Group Limited the Court of Appeal has ruled that there is ordinarily no duty on a company whose debt has been purchased (the Debtor) to inform the purchasing company (the Funder) of any pre-existing contractual arrangements it has with the company assigning the debt (the Assignor).  If the Funder wants this information it must directly request it.

Implications

Will you be ready for the March 2016 contingent asset submission deadline? Following the publication of the PPF’s draft levy determination for the 2016/17 levy year, we look at what questions you should be asking now to ensure you are prepared for the deadline.

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.