Offshore Litigation Blog

The well-established Ralli Bros principle is an exception to the general rule that the enforceability of a contract governed by English law is determined without reference to illegality under foreign law. Under this principle, a contract shall not be enforced if the performance of it is unlawful in the place of performance. In the recent judgment of Litasco SA v Banque El Amana SA, the High Court of England clarified that ’unlawful’ does not cover breaches of foreign court orders.

On 19 February 2025, the Supreme Court handed down judgment in El-Husseiny v Invest Bank PSC. The case concerned the interpretation of section 423 of the English Insolvency Act 1986 which provides remedies to creditors in circumstances where a debtor has taken steps to defeat or prejudice their claims by entering into a transaction at an undervalue.

On 17 February 2025, the BVI Court recognised a Committee, appointed by the Hong Kong Court of First Instance, with responsibility over the financial affairs of a family member who lacks capacity and has movable assets in the BVI.

In the recent case of SIA Investment Industry v Pardus Wealth Ltd, the English Commercial Court ruled on the appropriate sanction to be imposed on an individual respondent, who had been found guilty of contempt of court for failure to comply with several provisions of a freezing order.

The recent Singapore Court of Appeal case of DEM v DEL offers significant insights into the complexities surrounding arbitration awards, particularly concerning infra petita challenges (failure by a judge or arbitrator to consider a claim or essential issue) when the appellant is a non-participating party in the underlying arbitration.

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 hearing to obtain a power of sale before the BVI Commercial Court, as part of the enforcement of an arbitral award, a power of sale was granted to the applicant without the need for any receiver to be appointed.