The Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court sitting in the British Virgin Islands today began hearing arguments in the greatly anticipated appeals involving claims brought by the liquidators of Fairfield Sentry Limited ("Fairfield").

History of the Case

On 13 June 2012, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in the claims that have been brought by the liquidators of Fairfield Sentry Limited ("Fairfield") against a number of investors that redeemed out of the fund.  The Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of the trial judged albeit, in some instances, for different reasons.  Fairfield was a fund that invested into in Bernard L.

The purpose of an anti-suit injunction is to restrain respondents from commencing or continuing proceedings in another jurisdiction. Anti-suit injunctions are an important, and frequently required, judicial tool within the BVI. The growing number of international companies registered in the BVI has resulted in a corresponding increase in the number of BVI matters involving multiple jurisdictions. The recent BVI Court of Appeal decision in (1) Kenneth M.

Under the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 (the “Act”) there are two types of court supervised arrangements.

In Yeung Kwok Mung v The Attorney General and the Financial Services Commission, BVIHCM 2011/0002 and Dedyson Enterprises Limited v Registrar of Corporate Affairs, BVIHCM 2011/0008, the BVI High Court Commercial Division addressed the principles applying to restoration applications under section 43 of the BVI Business Companies Act (the “BC Act”). The key principles emerge from the decisions:

The recent decision in Pacific China Holdings Limited v Grand Pacific Holdings Limited, BVIHCV 2009/389 sets out the view of the BVI Commercial Court as to who, if anyone, should be responsible for the remuneration of liquidators where a liquidation order is set aside on appeal.

• In Irving H. Picard v Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, BVIHCV 0140/2010, the trustee appointed in the liquidation of the business of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (“Picard” and “BLMIS”) sought, amongst other things, (i) recognition in the BVI as a foreign representative; (ii) an entitlement to apply to the BVI Court for orders in aid of the foreign proceeding; and (iii) an entitlement to require any person to deliver up to him any property of BLMIS.
• Bannister J.

On Friday 1 April, the Court of Appeal handed down its much awaited written judgment in Westford Special Situations Fund Limited v Barfield Nominees et al. The decision has far reaching consequences, not only for BVI funds, but also for all types of BVI corporate vehicles. The case directly and indirectly dealt with four major issues:-  

Trial on preliminary issues

By virtue of his appointment, a liquidator steps into the shoes of the company and so the usual contractual, tortious and equitable remedies are actionable by the liquidator, acting in the name of the company.  Claims are most likely to be based on the following: