Offshore Litigation Blog

In Re Fang Holdings Limited the Grand Court (Justice David Doyle) confirmed that a company cannot simply assert a right to participate in winding up proceedings brought by shareholders on just and equitable grounds. Without evidence of independent governance and a genuine separate and independent interest, the company was restricted to giving discovery alone.

A long-standing question in offshore trust practice concerns the role of the protector and the nature of their power.

In THG Plc v Zedra Trust Company, the UK Supreme Court, by 4-1, overturned the Court of Appeal and held that no statutory limitation period applies to unfair prejudice petitions under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006 (the CA).

In Conyers Trust Company (Bermuda) Limited (as trustee of the First Trust) v The Protector of the Second Trust, the Supreme Court of Bermuda exercised its power to set aside a trustee’s mistaken exercise of its fiduciary powers to unwind a transaction which would have resulted in unintended tax implications.

In a previous blog post, we discussed the first instance judgment in the Phoenix BVI litigation, where Justice Mangatal considered the formalities for becoming a shareholder under s49 of the BVI Business Companies Act, Revised Edition 2020 (BCA). That judgment has now been appealed, with an accompanying application for a stay of execution.

In Lakhany v Hasan, the English High Court* discharged a worldwide freezing order (WFO) for an applicant’s failure to adequately discharge their “full and frank” disclosure duty. This case is a welcome reminder of the consequences for artificially elevating a general suspicion of dissipation to a “real risk” before the court.

In the recent decision of Unicorn Biotech Ventures One Ltd v Unicorn Biotech Ventures Two Ltd the Grand Court has for the first time considered the issue of whether it has jurisdiction to compel parties to participate in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) against their wishes, and if so, what factors should be taken into account.

In Jardine Strategic Limited v Oasis Investment II Master Fund Ltd & Ors the Privy Council (on appeal from Bermuda) held on July 24 that the so-called “Shareholder Rule” should be abrogated.

In a recent Privy Council decision IGCF SPV 21 Limited v Al Jomiah Power Limited and another, the Board ruled on when a party is held to have submitted to the jurisdiction of a foreign Court as a matter of Cayman law.

Harneys successfully secured the appointment of a receiver by way of equitable execution over a Cyprus private company, in order to assist in the execution of a judgment against a villa in Limassol Marina.

In the recent judgment of TAX v FDQ, the BVI Court of Appeal provided guidance on the granting of anti-suit arbitration injunctions and the Court’s supervisory jurisdiction over arbitrations commenced in the BVI.

It’s a familiar dilemma: a debt remains unpaid under a contract and the creditor wishes to pursue payment of the debt.