The illegality defence (which aims to prevent a party benefiting from its illegal conduct via legal claims) has been the subject of considerable judicial analysis in commonwealth jurisdictions in recent years.

In order to proceed against a debtor's personal property in Guernsey, customary law remedies are used which start with the arrest of a debtor's goods but which allow all creditors to share in the proceeds in the event that the monies owed are greater than the debtor's assets.

Arrêts

Once judgment is obtained against a debtor, the 'arresting creditor', will either:

In an application by Joint Official Liquidators for sanction of an agreement to sell the assets of a Company over the objections of creditors, the Court has confirmed the importance of establishing a clear and transparent sale process, which enjoys the confidence of the interested parties, in order to establish that the sale agreement is in the best interests of creditors.

Background

Ogier's team continues to be at the forefront of Restructuring and Insolvency law, acting in two matters that have broken new ground in Guernsey recently.

Partner Mathew Newman appeared before the Guernsey Royal Court for the applicants in two matters which raised several legal issues, some of which have not been addressed previously by the court.

RUBIN V EUROFINANCE SA

New Cap Re v Grant  

[2012] UKSC 46

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 Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has provided further helpful guidance to insolvency practitioners as to the circumstances in which leave will be granted to commence or continue proceedings against a company in liquidation. Adenium Energy Capital Limited (in official liquidation) (Adenium) is the latest in a line of cases in the Cayman Islands in which leave has been sought to commence proceedings under s 97(1) of the Companies Act against a Cayman Islands-incorporated company in liquidation.

Introduction

The Grand Court has recently provided helpful clarification as to the appropriate test to be applied when a dispute arises over the identity of the insolvency practitioners proposed to be appointed by a creditor or the company. In Global Fidelity Bank Ltd (in Voluntary Liquidation)^[1] the Court confirmed the 3-stage test for determining independence and that in applying the test, significant weight should be afforded to the views of the creditors.

Background

As many readers will know, Guernsey has recently approved a significant set of reforms to our insolvency legislation, to bring it in line with comparable jurisdictions such as England. A rules committee is also working on a set of corresponding rules to deal with the finer procedural points that affect a Guernsey insolvency. You can read Ogier's briefing on the new reforms here.

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.