Introduction

In one of the world's largest ever restructurings, Ocean Rig UDW Inc (UDW), a leading international contractor of offshore deep-water drilling services, and three of its subsidiaries have been successful in their application for the sanction of four schemes of arrangement by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, and recognition and enforcement of the schemes under Chapter 15 in the United States of America.

The bankruptcy court in In re Ocean Rig UDW Inc., 17-10736 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Aug. 24, 2017) determined that a decision by an offshore drilling company from the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) to shift its Center of Main Interest (COMI) to the Cayman Islands prior to defaulting on bonds and initiating reorganization proceedings there and in the U.S., was “prudent.” The Court held that the change offered the debtors the best opportunity for successful restructuring and survival under difficult financial conditions and did not preclude U.S.

In a landmark judgment of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands delivered on 23 August 2017 in Primeo Fund (in Official Liquidation) (“Primeo”) v Bank of Bermuda (Cayman) Ltd (“BBCL”) and HSBC Securities Services (Luxembourg) S.A (“HSSL”),[1] Mr Justice Jones QC dismissed the claim brought by Primeo, a Madoff feeder fund, against its custodian and administra

In Ocean Rig [1], the Grand Court sanctioned four inter-related schemes of arrangement (the “Schemes”), as part of a group restructuring of over US$3.69 billion of New York law governed debt – in value terms, the largest judicially approved restructuring in the Cayman Islands.

In order to prevent the expense of annual 2018 government registration fees, an appointed liquidator will be required to hold the final general meeting for a company or file the final dissolution notice for an exempted limited partnership on or before 31 January 2018.

The decision of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands (‘the Cayman Court’) to grant common law recognition and assistance to liquidators appointed by the High Court of Hong Kong (‘the Hong Kong Court’) over an exempted Cayman Islands incorporated company – without parallel insolvency proceedings in Cayman – is likely to be welcomed widely by insolvency practitioners and lawyers involved in cross-border restructuring and insolvency in common law jurisdictions.

DD Growth Premium 2X Fund (the Company), was a Cayman Islands Ponzi scheme that concealed vast trading losses by attributing fanciful values to worthless bonds. As the GFC unfolded in 2008, RMF Market Neutral Strategies Limited (RMF) redeemed US$23m for its shares in the Company (the Payment). The Company was placed in liquidation a short time later and the Company's liquidators sought to claw the Payment back.

Consolidated and amended insolvency and restructuring rules and regulations come into force in the Cayman Islands on 1 February 2018 (the "Amended Rules").

The Amended Rules do not represent a comprehensive overhaul of the rules and regulations but they do make a number of significant changes to the procedural aspects of Cayman Islands domestic and cross-border insolvency and restructuring legislation. These changes largely reflect and codify existing practice.

Companies Winding Up Rules

A recent decision of the Privy Council dismissing the claim of liquidators of an insolvent hedge fund to claw back redemption payments made to an investor leaves lingering uncertainties for investors generally.

Claw backs post 2008 crisis

The Privy Council sitting as the final court of appeal for the Cayman Islands recently considered a case concerning prioritisation in a Liquidation between feeder hedge funds where the investment medium was redeemable shares.

Background

The appellant in this case was the Liquidator of Herald Fund SPC ("Herald"). Herald is a Cayman Islands registered hedge fund that invested heavily into Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities LLC, the historic Ponzi scheme run by Bernard Madoff that collapsed spectacularly in 2008.