Offshore Litigation Blog

In another major success for a Harneys team run out of its London office, Justice Mangatal’s judgment is the first to clarify the proper interpretation of s49 of the BVI Business Companies Act 2004 (BCA). The judgment resolves a longstanding question as to the necessary formalities for a person to become a shareholder in a BVI company.

On 29 February 2024, the BVI Commercial Court handed down its much-anticipated decision in Joint Stock Company “Alfa-Bank” v Kipford Ventures Limited discharging the sanctioned Bank’s second application for an interim injunction against Kipford (the Second Injunction Application) and stayed its claim pending further order.

On 17 January 2024, the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal handed down its decision in Lau Man Sang, James et al v King Bun Limited et al affirming the lower court’s discretionary power to award costs following a split trial to determine liability. In upholding the costs order of Wallbank J, the Court of Appeal confirmed that there was no need to wait until the issues of relief and quantum are decided.

We recently wrote about two Grand Court decisions that confirmed the governing principles on interim payments. The two cases considered demonstrate that the Cayman Islands court has a pro-creditor approach to interim …

In the recent English High Court decision of Perez v Equiom Trust Corporation (UK) Ltd and Equiom Trust (South Dakota) LLC [2022], the claimant revoked an English law governed trust of which the defendants were the trustees, and sought declarations that the revocation was valid, and that the defendants held trust assets on bare trust for the claimant and at her direction.

Two recent decisions of Justice Parker provide useful analysis on the exercise by the Grand Court of its discretion to order costs on an indemnity basis.

In the recent decision of Hangzhou Jiudang Asset Management Co Ltd & Anor v Kei [2022] EWHC 3265 (Comm), the English High Court has clarified the circumstances in which a foreign judgment may be restricted from enforcement.

In the recent case of Oscar Trustee Limited v MBS Software Solutions Limited, the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Commercial Court and reaffirmed that the convenience of witnesses including their availability and location remains not simply a relevant but in fact a core factor in forum non conveniens applications.

In Yao Juan v Kwok Kin Kwok and Crown Treasure Group Limited, the Court of Appeal handed down another seminal decision on costs’ recovery agreeing with the Appellant that costs incurred by lawyers not admitted to practice in the BVI are not recoverable.