The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands (the "Grand Court") recently considered the statutory moratorium against commencing proceedings against a Cayman Islands company which has been placed into liquidation. In the case of BDO Cayman Ltd. and BDO Trinity Ltd. v Ardent Harmony Fund Inc.

You can read the infographic version of our guide here.

Scheme of Arrangement (Section 86)

A Court approved compromise entered into between a company and its creditors or members or any classes of them. "Arrangement" is construed extremely broadly making a scheme a very flexible restructuring tool.

Case Summary

The case of Capita Trustees Ltd, RS, NS, The Trustees in Bankruptcy of RS - In the matter of the Dunlop Settlement [2013] JRC 029 concerns an application by Capita Trustees Limited (Capita) in its capacity as trustee of the Dunlop Settlement (the Trust) for approval to it entering into an agreement intended to settle various claims made against the Trust by creditors (the Agreement), the net effect of which would be to exhaust the assets of the Trust.

The Facts

The First Creditor Driven Schemes

The Commercial Court has very recently sanctioned four schemes of arrangement pursuant to section 179A of the BVI Business Companies Act 2004. These were the first two creditor-driven schemes to be proposed and sanctioned in the BVI. There has been one other scheme proposed and sanctioned in the BVI but this was a member’s scheme and was altogether more straightforward. Ogier BVI was instructed in relation to all four schemes.

The First Scheme

The Cayman Islands Government has published the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (Bill) which will introduce welcome amendments to the Companies Act (2021 Revision) (Act), to facilitate the efficient restructuring of distressed companies for the benefit of their stakeholders.

The Guernsey Royal Court recently handed down judgment which brought to an end an important chapter in a long-running dispute regarding control of the exploration and exploitation of the oil and gas reserves of Georgia. The case involved a rare blessing application under section 426 of the Companies Law in an insolvency context, enabling the liquidator to get their decision blessed by the Royal Court.

Background

So what precisely is an asset protection trust and what is it, over and above a normal trust that an asset protection trust is seeking to achieve? This paper considers these issues from a Jersey law perspective and fundamentally asks the question to what extent a Jersey trust, once established, will protect assets from creditor claims.

Introduction

With the March quarter day fast approaching it is likely that there will be more businesses becoming insolvent. Some of those businesses will have an interest in Jersey property.  For example as owners of Jersey property or holders of a lease of retail premises situated in the Island.

In the matter of the representation of Anglo Irish Asset Finance [2010] JRC087

This is the latest decision of the Royal Court in relation to an application by a UK creditor (a bank) for a letter of request to be issued to the English High Court requesting that an administration order be made in respect of a Jersey company.

When a plaintiff obtains judgment against an insured but insolvent defendant in the Cayman Islands is the plaintiff entitled to the policy proceeds or do they have to be paid to the liquidator for the benefit of the defendant's creditors? The answer is yes when the claim involves a vehicle but is less clear in other cases. This article considers the arguments for and against a plaintiff being entitled to the policy proceeds in cases that do not involve a vehicle.

Background