Offshore Litigation Blog

The BVI Commercial Court has today (4 May 2022) handed down its judgment in ChainSwap v Persons Unknown.

On 7 April 2022, the BVI Commercial Court handed down judgment in the ancillary claim of West Ridge Investment Company Limited (West Ridge), the Ancillary Claimant in the high-profile IsZo Capital LP v Nam Tai Property Inc. et al litigation in which, West Ridge sought to be indemnified pursuant to a Deed of Indemnity (Deed) agreed between Nam Tai Property Inc. (Nam Tai) (a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange) and West Ridge. The Court held that the Deed was a proper commercial resolution of the issues between the parties which stood to be enforced and that Nam Tai should be bound to its bargain with West Ridge.

The recent judgment in the Hong Kong case, Industrial Bank Co., Ltd v Rich Crown International Industries Limited & Others [2022] HKCFI 81, confirms the high evidential threshold for fraud claims.

By order made on 15 March 2022 in ChainSwap v Persons Unknown, the BVI Commercial Court has continued a worldwide freezing order against unknown hackers, who exploited the applicant’s software and used it to steal large quantities of cryptocurrency tokens from private users and projects.

The Cayman Islands Court of Appeal (CICA) has handed down its long-awaited judgment in the landmark case of AHAB v SICL & Others. In the latest chapter of the Saad story, the CICA overwhelmingly endorsed the Chief Justice’s Grand Court decision to dismiss AHAB’s claims, finding in favour of the Defendants / Respondents on the majority of the key issues, in particular the issues of knowledge and authority on the part of the plaintiffs of what was described at first instance as a “cauldron of a fraud”. Harneys acts for the Joint Official Liquidators of SIFCo5.

In the long-running case of ArcelorMittal v Essar Global Fund Ltd & Anor the Grand Court has dismissed the Defendants’ application to set aside the Norwich Pharmacal order (NPO) made in 2019. The Defendants, having unsuccessfully challenged the NPO at first instance and on appeal, sought to set it aside on the grounds that subsequent commencement of a conspiracy claim in England and an avoidance action in New York, amounted to a material change of circumstance that rendered the NPO unnecessary.

In the recent English judgment in Tatiana Akhmedova v Farkhad Teimur Ogly Akhmedov & others [2021] EWHC 545 (Fam), a high-profile and long-running divorce case, the English Court examined the requirements for relief to be granted under section 423 of the English Insolvency Act 1986.

The Essar group has had a set-back in the continuing disclosure action by commercial rival, ArcelorMittal, in connection with an unpaid arbitral award now well in excess of US$1.5 billion.

Mr Justice Baker has handed down judgment in Skatteforvaltningen (the Danish Customs and Tax Administration) v Solo Capital Partners LLP (in special administration) and many others, dismissing the "massive" and "unprecedented" claim at the first opportunity.

In the recent decision of Terre Neuve v Yewdale the English High Court considered applications by certain defendants challenging the Court’s jurisdiction to hear claims against them. The proceedings concerned the alleged misappropriation of a sum of €10.6 million paid by Terre Neuve to Yewdale and allegedly misapplied with the participation of the other defendants pursuant to a tax optimisation scheme.