High Court considers “test case” of Wall v Royal Bank of Scotland [2016] EWHC 2460 (Comm)

The claims

The Claimant, Mr Wall (W), brought claims against the Defendant, Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), in relation to RBS’s dealings with a now insolvent group of companies owned and controlled by W. W brought the claims in his capacity as assignee of the group’s rights and/or as beneficiary of a trust as declared by the group’s liquidators.

In the case of Global Knafaim Leasing Ltd & Anor v The Civil Aviation Authority & Ors [2010] EWHC 1348 (Admin), the UK’s High Court held that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and BAA Ltd. (BAA) were entitled to a statutory lien of a lessor’s aircraft, to ensure a lessor pays all the outstanding route and aircraft charges of an insolvent operator and its fleet of aircraft, and not just those related to the aircraft of the lessor.

Cayman Islands Court of Appeal, Unreported judgment given 9 September 2009.

As a matter of English and Cayman law, does the court have jurisdiction to appoint a receiver, at the behest of a judgement creditor, by way of equitable execution over a settlor’s power of revocation of a trust?

Facts

The ECJ has issued a preliminary ruling on the use of Article 13 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 on insolvency proceedings ("the Regulations") as a defence to clawback claims by an insolvency office holder.

In this case Sportland, a Finnish company, sold goods supplied by Nike European Operations Netherlands BV ("Nike"), a Dutch company, under a franchise contract governed by Dutch law. Sportland owed Nike approximately €200,000 and repaid their debts in ten instalments very shortly before insolvency proceedings were opened in Finland.