Introduction:
In CHC Group Ltd ("CHC") the Cayman Islands Grand Court has determined that, in certain circumstances, directors of a company can commence Cayman Islands restructuring provisional liquidation proceedings ("RPL Proceedings") without the need for a shareholders' resolution or authorisation in the company's articles of association. This decision allows greater access by companies to the Cayman Islands restructuring regime by confirming a practical solution to the so-called Emmadart issue.
Voluntary liquidation or Strike-off? - Alternatives to voluntarily achieving the conclusion of operations and dissolution of Cayman companies
When Cayman Islands funds undergo liquidity stress on their balance sheet due to holding illiquid assets or irregular large redemption requests, directors of Cayman Islands funds generally consider mechanics to provide for an orderly restructure to meet redemption requests which arise. Common arrangements are to implement a “redemption gate” which limits redemptions to a certain percentage of shares in the fund or a stronger response such as a suspension of all redemptions.
A Cayman Islands company can be dissolved by the appointment of a liquidator or it can be dissolved without such appointment if the company is struck off the register as a result of an application to the Registrar of Companies for the purpose.
Voluntary liquidation
In circumstances where the company has been active and has substantial assets and liabilities, it is normal and recommended for the company to be liquidated.
Loss of substratum (or reason for existence)
The Court of Appeal has recently clarified that if a foreign company, being a shareholder of a Cayman Islands company, issues a winding up petition against that company and there is evidence that the petitioning company will be unable to pay an adverse costs order if the respondent is successful at trial, then the Cayman Islands court has an inherent jurisdiction to order the petitioning foreign company to provide security for the respondent's costs – Re Dyxnet Holdings1. Foreign company petitioners are now in the same position as Cayman Islands petitioners.
Judgment of the Supreme Court, Chamber One, Number 134/2016, 04 March
Due to the introduction of new tax legislation on 6th April 2016, distributions made to shareholders of companies undergoing Members’ Voluntary Liquidation (MVL) are now treated as income (rather than capital) and are taxed accordingly. The result is that the tax rate on MVL proceeds has shot up to a staggering 28%, as detailed in our previous article.
The Texas Supreme Court, on June 20, 2014, issued its highly anticipated opinion in Ritchie v. Rupe, 2014 Tex. LEXIS 500 (Tex. 2014). Ritchie involved a claim by a minority shareholder in a closely held corporation under the Texas receivership statute, seeking to force the majority shareholders to buy-out the minority shareholder’s interest in the corporation. The Texas Supreme Court, in a decision that curtails the rights and remedies of minority shareholders in closely held companies, rejected the minority shareholder’s claim, holding as follows: