Companies caught up in wrongdoing by reasons of the acts of their directors or agents may suffer losses themselves in the form of liabilities incurred to creditors. If such companies subsequently go into liquidation, their liquidators will seek to recover as much as possible for the creditors. The liquidators may try to do so by…
FATCA UPDATE Readers will be aware that on 30 June 2014 the Government of the BVI signed a Model 1(b) intergovernmental agreement (“IGA”) with the United States to implement the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”). As result, the BVI committed itself to improving international tax compliance and reducing the possibility of US tax…
Through the recently published Securities and Investment Business (Incubator and Approved Funds) Regulations 2015 (the “Regulations”), the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (“FSC”) has introduced two new regulated open ended fund products being the Incubator Fund and the Approved Fund. The Regulations came into force on 1 June 2015 and are designed to complement…
Offshore law firm Forbes Hare, which provides BVI and Cayman Islands legal and fiduciary services, is set to open a new office in Singapore from today. The Asian Wealth Times recently caught up with Sam Robertson, who will co-head the office, to ask him how the business was developing and how he was settling into…
BVI recognition and assistance for foreign insolvency office holders By Alistair Abbott, Partner On 10 November 2014 the Privy Council handed down judgment in Singularis Holdings Limited v PricewaterhouseCoopers[1], which was heard alongside PricewaterhouseCoopers v Saad Investments Company Limited[2]. Both appeals were from decisions of the Court of Appeal of Bermuda. The Singularis decision may…
By Christopher Young, partner It is common for the developers of resort hotel and condominium developments to seek to control future rentals of condominium apartments within the resort that are to be sold to third party owners. Typically, control may be exercised through a requirement that any apartment rental should be through a single management…
Fairfield Sentry liquidators win key ruling in battle to secure better deal for the sale of Sentry’s claim in the estate of BLMIS Second Circuit Clarifies Application of Section 363 in Chapter 15 Proceedings In a landmark decision, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (“Second Circuit”) has confirmed the applicability of section 363 of the…
By Christina Kish, senior associate In an extempore judgment (that has been reduced to writing) given in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands on 18 July 2014 in the matter ofHiTs Africa Limited (in official liquidation) (unreported, Cause No FSD 96 of 2013 (CQJ)), Mr Justice Quin set out the principles applicable when determining…
By Charlotte Bunn, senior associate In Alphonse Fletcher JR v Solon Group Inc BVIHCMAP [2014/0005] the Court of Appeal endorses the principle that shareholders can exercise powers of directors in circumstances where no (or no effective) board of directors exists. In September 2014 the Court of Appeal upheld an appeal against a summary judgment order made…
By Richard Baird, senior associate The Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal has provided welcome guidance to the rules concerning the setting aside of default judgments in Sylmord Trade Inc. v Inteco Beteiligungs AG [2014] ECSC J0324-3. A defendant who adopts an attitude of indifference towards the commencement of proceedings in the British Virgin Islands cannot expect much…