The Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas made an ancillary winding up order against Caledonian Bank Limited, a company registered in the Cayman Islands, under the Companies Winding-Up Amendment Act 2011.

Introduction

In the past year, The Bahamas Supreme Court dealt with what is known to be its first case involving an insolvent trust.  This is novel area of the law in The Bahamas and other common law jurisdictions where there is no statutory regime to deal with the issue. 

Introduction

The world continues to get smaller as a result of globalisation and cross-border insolvency issues are now commonplace. Whilst a debtor company may be subject to insolvency proceedings in one part of the world, its assets may be located in another. Moreover, creditors of the debtor company may be local and foreign, and therefore outside the territorial reach of the court at the seat of the insolvency.

In In re O’Reilly, 598 B.R. 784 (Bankr. W.D. Pa. 2019), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania denied the petition of a foreign bankruptcy trustee for recognition under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code of a debtor’s Bahamian bankruptcy case. Although the Bahamian bankruptcy was otherwise eligible for chapter 15 recognition, the U.S.

In line with Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030, the Kingdom of Bahrain recently introduced Law No. (22) of 2018 promulgating the Restructuring and Insolvency Law (‘New Law’), as a step towards strengthening the legal framework and business ecosystem in Bahrain. The New Law is expected to boost transparency and efficiency in the insolvency process and improve the ease of doing business in Bahrain.

Published on 30 May 2018, and coming into force on 30 November 2018, the New Law repeals the old Bankruptcy and Composition Law (Law No. (11) of 1987).

An important decision was issued last week by the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in favor of Squire Patton Boggs’ client CCA Bahamas, Inc. (“CCA Bahamas”). The decision provides guidance on when U.S. bankruptcy courts should dismiss cases filed by foreign debtors. See In re Northshore Mainland Services, Inc., et al., Case No. 15-11402 (KJC).

The Supreme Court of the Bahamas recently dismissed an application seeking various orders in aid of bankruptcy proceedings commenced in the District of Delaware, United States, concerning various Bahamian companies placed into Chapter 11.

Facts

On November 20 2015 the Bahamian Supreme Court declined to register a composition with creditors sought by Irish billionaire Sir Anthony O'Reilly. The court took the alternative route of adjudicating him bankrupt instead.

Facts