Blog

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.

The English Court of Appeal, in an important decision in Goknur Gida Maddeleri Enerji Imalet Ithalat Ithracat ve Sanayi AS v Aytacli (2021) EWCA Civ 1037 of 13 July 2021 which will be relevant to other jurisdictions with a regime for imposing liability for litigation costs on non-parties to the litigation (third party costs orders), has identified the guidelines in considering whether such an order should be made against directors (or shareholders) of an insolvent company.

The Supreme Court of Bermuda’s decision in Hunt v Transworld Payment Solutions UK confirms that it will refuse to recognise the foreign appointment of a liquidator in circumstances where the sole purpose is to enable the liquidator to obtain evidence for use in contemplated litigation.

The power to exclude a beneficiary from a trust must be exercised with due care failing which an excluded beneficiary may be able to obtain relief from the court.

Partner William Peake returns with another episode of Take 10, joined by Counsel Francesca Gibbons and Associate Joshua Shuardson-Hipkin to discuss BVI shareholder remedies and the role that our London based disputes team plays to ensure 24-hour client service.

In Hector Finance Group Limited v Caldicott Worldwide Limited (BVIHCVAP 2020/0012), the EC Court of Appeal declined to consider the merits of an appeal from the grant of an injunction pursuant to the Arbitration Act on the basis that it had no jurisdiction to do so.

In two recent cases, the British Virgin Islands Commercial Court had the opportunity to clarify the effect of section 125 of the Evidence Act 2006 (the Act). This provides that the Court is obliged to carry out a balancing act between the manner in which the evidence was obtained and the desirability of admitting it.

In Cayman Islands Section 238 litigation – disputes as to the fair value of shares held by shareholders of a company that has been privatised – dissenting shareholders are turning to foreign courts to obtain parallel discovery in support of their claims. In two recent decisions, dissenters have relied on US Section 1782 discovery and letters of request to the Hong Kong Court to seek additional documents in those proceedings.

What are Schemarios? Schemarios are “scheme-scenarios” which form governing rules to establish when a parallel scheme of arrangement is necessary. We believe that the Schemarios will be helpful to practitioners of cross-border restructuring around the world. Our Schemarios illustrate how the operation of the “rule in Gibbs” can be used to distinguish between cases where further steps (in particular, a parallel scheme of arrangement) are likely to be necessary to ensure the practical effectiveness of a cross-border restructuring and those cases where such steps may not strictly be necessary for that purpose.