Offshore Litigation Blog

In the recent decision of Rodrigues v Wakefield Quin Limited, the Supreme Court of Bermuda clarified the high threshold for pleading fraud; determined it had not been met on the facts of the case; struck out the case and made an indemnity costs award against the plaintiffs and their Bermuda counsel for pleading fraud without “credible material” to establish a prima facie case of fraud.

The Cayman Islands Grand Court has awarded indemnity costs in respect of an abusive application for the deferral of a company’s dissolution upon the completion of its voluntary liquidation: In re Skye Assets Fund SPC (in Voluntary Liquidation).

In Dos Santos v Unitel SA, the English Court of Appeal clarified the threshold test of a “good arguable case” for granting worldwide freezing injunctions should be equivalent to that of a “serious issue to be tried” as applied in other types of interim injunctions, in accordance with the principles laid down in American Cyanamid.

The Commercial Court in England recently dismissed the Claimant bank's claim of a transaction to defraud creditors because the Bank had not properly pleaded the purpose for which it contended that the Defendant businessman had transferred assets to his family: Invest Bank PSC v El-Husseini.

The High Court in England has held that a defendant company may rely on public law defences in opposition to a petition seeking the winding up of the company on public interest grounds: The Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs v Purity Limited.

In a recent ruling at the intersection of cybersecurity, human rights, and sovereign immunity, the English Court of Appeal has determined that Bahrain cannot claim state immunity for remotely hacking the computers of pro-democracy activists in London, setting a precedent with implications far beyond espionage cases.

In a recent matter our firm obtained Norwich Pharmacal relief against a centralised digital asset exchange, marking an important first step in the effort to recover misappropriated digital assets. While the Grand Court did not issue a formal judgment, it made several noteworthy observations that may influence the future handling of similar cases.

In the long running litigation concerning The Port Fund (the Partnership), a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership, the Cayman Grand Court recently clarified the principles concerning applications for approval of court appointed receivers’ remuneration and expenses in the absence of any formal rules or process.

The Privy Council, overturning a decision of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, has clarified the requirements for a claimant wishing to establish that a transaction was procured by undue influence.