KWL Advertising Limited (in liquidation) ("KWL") -v- Kountouris & Kountouris, Guernsey UnreportedJudgment, 18 October 2006

During economic downturns, even businesses with strong long term prospects may face real short term working capital challenges and the ensuing prospect of corporate bankruptcy.

Hsin Chong Construction Company Limited [2019] 原诉法庭 1531 (判决日期2019年6月13日)

合资企业协议通常会包含如下条款：在发生特定事件（包括违约方破产）时，赋予无过错方将违约方排除在合资企业之外的权利。本案中，法庭对该类条款是否无效进行了考虑。

背景介绍

2013年11月，Hsin Chong Construction Company Limited (以下简称“该公司”)与Build King Construction Limited （以下简称“Build King”）签订了一份合资企业协议（“合资企业协议”）并成立了一家非法人型合资企业（“合资企业”），目的是向香港一个政府建设项目（“该项目”）提交投标。该公司和Build King在合资企业中持有的权益分别为65%和35%。香港政府于2016年6月22日将该合同授予给了该合资企业。

该公司于2017年陷入财务困境，并于2018年8月27日面临清盘的命运。

2018年12月13日，Build King行使了其在合资协议下的权利，以该公司破产为由，将该公司从合资企业中排除（“排除条款”）。

Summary

A recent decision of the High Court of Hong Kong examined a liquidator’s powers to distribute a Hong Kong company’s assets in the PRC (being an RMB balance held in a Mainland bank account, a chose in action governed by Mainland law and subject to foreign exchange restrictions). Particularly, the Court looked at an unusual set of facts which meant there was some doubt as to whether the liquidator’s proposed distribution was in keeping with the key insolvency principles of:

1. collectivity;

In a highly international cross-border restructuring, the High Court of Hong Kong has refused to assist the New York-based Chapter 11 trustee of a Singaporean subsidiary of the Cayman-incorporated Peruvian business China Fishery Group (“CFG”).

In Re Kin Ming Toy Manufactory Ltd (in liquidation), HCCW 402/2015 [2018] HKCFI 2057 and 2285, Harris J of the Court of First Instance dismissed an application under section 182 of the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (the Ordinance), Cap. 32, brought by the liquidators of a company in liquidation seeking to void two payments made out of the company’s bank account after commencement of the winding up proceedings, and further ordered that the liquidators be held personally liable for the costs of the unsuccessful application.

Key Facts

Year in Review – Hong Kong Law in 2016

What’s on the horizon? A focus on dispute resolution in the Year of the Rooster What's on the horizon? A focus on dispute resolution in the Year of the Rooster 1 What to expect in the Year of the Rooster In this bulletin we examine some of the key dispute resolution and regulatory challenges facing business managers, financial controllers, and in-house counsel in the Year of the Rooster. 1.

In Beijing Tong Gang Da Sheng Trade Co., Ltd (as assignee of Greater Beijing Region Expressways Limited) v Allen & Overy & Anor, FACV 2, 3, 4 and 5 of 2016, the Court of Final Appeal held that the addition or substitution of a party to an action amounts to a “new claim”, as defined in section 35(2) of the Limitation Ordinance (Cap 347)) and would not therefore be permitted after the relevant limitation period had expired, unless it came within the rules of court as required under Section 35(3) and (5) of the Limitation Ordinance (Cap 347).

Cases of vessel and crew abandonment are increasingly in the headlines, as freight rates sink to levels that can fail to cover shipowners' operating expenses.