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 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 Cyprus, companies that are struck off the official companies register maintained by the Department of Intellectual Property and Registrar of Companies in Cyprus (the Register and the Registrar) can be restored, mainly, through two routes: (1) administrative restoration by the Registrar; or (2) Court-ordered restoration.

Harneys successfully opposed a claimant’s application seeking the Court’s leave to testify via videoconference during civil proceedings, before the District Court of Limassol, due to alleged health issues that prevented the claimant from travelling to Cyprus to testify.

The Supreme Court of The Bahamas has recently ruled in Gabriele Volpi v Delanson Services Ltd & ors , providing a clear statement on when a court will refuse to halt an arbitration because of a pending challenge to the tribunal.

Harneys secured a significant recovery of approximately €9 million for our client through garnishee (attachment of debt) proceedings against two major banks in Cyprus.

On 4 June 2025, the Supreme Court handed down judgment in Waller-Edwards v One Savings Bank Plc. The judgment provides welcome certainty to lenders as to when they are put ‘on inquiry’ of undue influence in hybrid loan transactions.

The jurisdiction of the Cayman and BVI courts to adjudicate claims depends upon whether the defendant(s) to those claims can lawfully be served with originating process.

In the recent Cayman decision of L.R. Capital China Growth II Company Limited (LR Capital) v International Corporation Services Ltd (ICS) , Justice Asif refused preservation orders and sealing and gagging orders sought by the Plaintiffs in support of an intended Norwich Pharmacal application.

In the Abraaj General Partner VIII Ltd v Abraaj ABOF IV SPV Ltd, the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal (CICA) has clarified the scope of a limited partner’s statutory right to receive “true and full information” under section 22 of the Exempted Limited Partnership Act (2024 Revision) (ELPA) – and where the line should be drawn.

The anonymity which digital currencies and online trading more generally permit is one of the factors which makes the digital space so attractive to those seeking to perpetrate fraud. The claims that have come before the courts of England and Wales involving digital assets have almost exclusively been fraud cases. In these cases, the courts have generally taken a pragmatic approach, permitting such actions to be begun against the unidentified fraudsters as “persons unknown” and granting freezing and disclosure orders to assist in securing and recovering (so far as possible) the proceeds of the fraud.