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The Offshore Litigator's Perspective - Q2 2022
Welcome to our quarterly litigation round up, which brings you Mourant's perspective on legal developments that we see in our work advising on many of the most challenging and complex cases in the offshore courts.
It's been another busy quarter in the offshore litigation world.
The global geopolitical environment continues to be largely influenced by Russia's unjustified invasion of Ukraine which has led to economic and trade sanctions by the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States (among other jurisdictions), which continue to pose practical challenges.
Cryptocurrency remains as topical as ever, particularly with a number of high profile crypto lending and trading firms having recently filed for bankruptcy. Blockchain and crypto are amongst some of the topics discussed in our vlogs series.
We've also published some updates in relation to recent developments in insolvency in the BVI and Cayman
Find out about these important issues and more in the latest edition of the Offshore Litigator's Perspective.
Explore our latest issue
BVI
- The Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal provided helpful guidance in relation to how the Court ought to deal with an application for the appointment of a liquidator in circumstances where the company asserts a cross-claim in an amount exceeding the applicant's debt in two unrelated decisions. Find out more here.
- The BVI Commercial Court handed down judgment granting a freezing order against persons unknown in the matter of ChainSwap Limited v Persons Unknown in respect of cryptoassets misappropriated from BVI cross-chain bridge, ChainSwap. Read here.
-The BVI Court of Appeal considered the standing of an applicant to challenge the decisions of BVI office holders in liquidation proceedings. The judgment also looked at what test will be applied in challenging those decisions once standing has been established and the jurisdiction to expunge or amend an admitted claim in liquidation under section 210 of the BVI Insolvency Act, 2003. Read the case details here.
Cayman
- A Cayman segregated portfolio company, Performance Insurance Company SPC, was placed into official liquidation. The joint liquidators' appointment extended to all of the underlying segregated portfolios (SPs), some of which were solvent and others insolvent. Two of the solvent SPs applied to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands seeking the appointment of an additional liquidator of the company to separately represent the interests of those solvent SPs on the basis that the original liquidators were conflicted in administering both the solvent and insolvent SPs. Read the Grand Court's decision here.
- The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands ruled In the Matter of Formation Group (Cayman) Fund I, LP that it is possible to bring a just and equitable petition to wind-up an exempted limited partnership in its own name, as opposed to that of the general partner. Read the implications of this here.
- This article explain where the law now stands with the principle of reflective loss, how we got here, and whether any issues remain up for grabs. Find out more here.
Guernsey
- Our Litigation team provided an overview of the anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework in Guernsey. The update can be read here.
- The latest Guernsey financial crime update provides an overview of some recent developments concerning financial crime in Guernsey. Read more here.
- The Guernsey regulatory update for Q1 2022 was released early April and included an overview of Guernsey legislative and regulatory developments for the period 1 December 2021 to 31 March 2022 read here.
Jersey
- The Importance of regulated businesses monitoring compliance with regulatory obligations by their staff, and taking action if employees fail to meet those obligations, is highlighted by the recent judgment of the Jersey Employment and Discrimination Tribunal in the case of Dowling –v- Concentric Analytics Limited. Read here.
- More than 100 trust and fiduciary professionals attended the Mourant Trusts Forums in Jersey and Guernsey in May 2022. Read the event round up here.
- In a recent article, our Jersey Litigation team look at the enforceability of an agreement to negotiate as a matter of both English and Jersey law and its relevance to practitioners across these jurisdictions and beyond. Read here.
Our blog, The Offshore Litigator's Perspective, is where you'll find our point of view on significant cases in the courts and key legal developments – putting relevant, decisive and pithy news at your fingertips.
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About Mourant
Mourant is a law firm-led, professional services business with over 60 years' experience in the financial services sector. We advise on the laws of the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Jersey and Luxembourg and provide specialist entity management, governance, regulatory and consulting services.
