Blog

In the recent case of Re Legal and General Assurance Society Ltd and another company, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales granted an adjournment in respect of an application to sanction a scheme for the transfer of insurance business due to the effects of COVID-19 but refused to give a current indication as to whether it will sanction the Scheme.

On 19 March 2020, in A, B v C, D and E [2020] EWCA Civ 409, the English Court of Appeal confirmed that the Court has the power under section 44(2)(a) of the Arbitration Act 1996 to order a non-party English resident to give evidence in support of a foreign arbitration overturning the High Court judgment.

In the recent decision of Nichols v Chelsea Football Club the English Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against sentence of 21 weeks’ imprisonment for contempt of court. The appellant, Mr Nichols, was found to be in breach of an order prohibiting him from dealing in Chelsea Football Club tickets. Mr Nichols was filmed selling a ticket to an agent of the club near the stadium on match day.

In the decision of Re Altair Asia Investments (delivered on 16 March 2020) the Grand Court adjourned a creditor’s winding up petition pending delivery of judgment in Hong Kong in proceedings against the guarantors of the debt on which the petition was based. The decision exemplifies judicial comity between the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong where judges are astute to avoid jurisdictional clash or inconsistent findings.

In the recent case of Re China Singyes Solar Technologies Holdings Limited, the Hong Kong Court took another look at the Gibbs rule in sanctioning a parallel scheme of arrangement.

We would like to say a massive thank you to all of the runners who joined our virtual Fun Run on Monday 16 March in lieu of our annual INSOL 5KM run which was understandably cancelled this year. We received some great responses from around the world and are happy to have been able to provide a bit of positivity during what are most definitely challenging times.