Why segregated portfolio companies are thriving in Cayman? Loeb Smith’s corporate Partner Gary Smith talks to HFM Week about SPCs.
HFMWeek (HFM):How versatile are SPCs? What makes them this way?
A Cayman Islands company can be dissolved by the appointment of a liquidator or it can be dissolved without such appointment if the company is struck off the register as a result of an application to the Registrar of Companies for the purpose.
Voluntary liquidation
In circumstances where the company has been active and has substantial assets and liabilities, it is normal and recommended for the company to be liquidated.
In a recent judgment,[1] the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal (the “Court”) has upheld the decision of the Grand Court which found that investors who have redeemed their shares but remain unpaid at the commencement of a company’s liquidation are entitled to prove in the liquidation for their redemption proceeds as a creditor. This is the case irrespective of whether or not the company could lawfully have distributed the redemption proceeds to them prior to the commencement of the liquidation.
When Cayman Islands funds undergo liquidity stress on their balance sheet due to holding illiquid assets or irregular large redemption requests, directors of Cayman Islands funds generally consider mechanics to provide for an orderly restructure to meet redemption requests which arise. Common arrangements are to implement a “redemption gate” which limits redemptions to a certain percentage of shares in the fund or a stronger response such as a suspension of all redemptions.
The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has held that depositor protection provisions in Cayman Islands law only apply in respect of depositors with deposits of CI$20,000 (US$24,400) or less.1 Depositors with more than CI$20,000 on deposit do not benefit from such provisions at all, even for their first CI$20,000. This means that, for persuasive policy reasons, the position in the Cayman Islands differs from the position in the EU under the deposit guarantee scheme.
Insolvency law in the Cayman Islands is principally regulated by the Companies Law (2013) and the Companies Winding Up Rules 2008, which are supplemented by a wide body of case law. The following guidance is a summary only.
Under Cayman law, a company may be wound up on the basis of insolvency if it cannot pay its debts as they fall due. A company is treated as unable to pay its debts if:
In Vento and Others v Westminster Hope & Turnberry, Ltd (unreported, 25 November 2015) The Honourable Anthony Smellie, C.J., sitting in the Financial Services Division of the Grand Court clarified the grounds on which judgment creditors may seek to use charging orders to enforce judgment debts. Readers will note that typically charging orders are made in respect of immoveable property (eg.
The High Court has granted three insolvent Cayman companies (each in liquidation) a worldwide freezing order in support of proceedings against Mr Terrill, an individual who operated behind the companies' respective corporate directors as their sole director and shareholder. The court exercised its discretion to grant the injunction despite there being a delay of more than a year between the discovery of suspicious transactions linked to Mr Terrill and a Letter of Request applying for a freezing order being sent by the Cayman court together with the companies' liquidators to the Englis
Loss of substratum (or reason for existence)
Over the past two or three years, we have seen an increasing number of cases where a client holds and wishes to sell or transfer shares in a Cayman Islands company which is in liquidation, or is seeking to purchase shares in such a company from another party. In those circumstances, the transfer of the shares would be void absent the validation of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, as a result of section 99 of the Companies Law (2013 Revision) ("Section 99"). Section 99 is in the following terms: