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.

In a ground-breaking decision for the Cayman Islands as a restructuring centre, the Cayman Islands court has handed down judgment sanctioning four highly complex inter-linked schemes of arrangement.

The schemes result in the compromise of US$3.69 billion of New York law governed debt for the Cayman Islands registered parent of the Ocean Rig group and three of its Marshall Islands incorporated subsidiaries.

In a decision that will reassure investors in Cayman Islands investment funds and other vehicles, the Grand Court has shown its willingness to facilitate the investigation of legitimate concerns raised during a voluntary liquidation.1

The decision is the first written ruling on the Court's power to defer the dissolution of a Cayman Islands company in voluntary liquidation under section 151(3) of the Companies Law and also considers the Court's power to bring a voluntary liquidation under the Court's supervision in the context of an investigation into possible wrongdoing.

In a landmark post-Rubin v Eurofinance[1] ruling, the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has granted common law recognition and assistance to liquidators appointed by the High Court of Hong Kong over an exempted Cayman Islands incorporated company.

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.