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…
By Richard Baird, senior associate The enforcement of foreign judgments in the British Virgin Islands has been made more accessible by an amendment to the “service out” provisions of the Civil Procedure Rules 2000. The amendment gave legislative force to the result reached in a recent judgment of the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal. The…
By Alistair Abbott, partner. Liquidators have various powers conferred on them by section 186 of the Insolvency Act 2003. However, that section also provides that the court may provide that certain powers be exercised only with the court’s sanction. The practice of the BVI Commercial Court, when appointing liquidators, is to impose such a requirement…
By Alistair Abbott, partner The BVI Arbitration Act 2013 came into force on 1 October 2014. The Act provides the BVI with a modern legislative framework for arbitration matters and represents the culmination of a number of steps the BVI has taken to make itself a more “arbitration-friendly” jurisdiction. Earlier this year it became a…
FATCA, or the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, began as a US tax-reporting initiative for US residents living overseas, the government of both the Cayman Islands and the BVI having committed to Model 1 Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA) with the United States. US FATCA has given rise to further FATCA type initiatives, including those involving UK…
Background BVI companies are listed on most of the major public exchanges in the world, including NYSE, AIM, LSE, TSX, NASDAQ, HKSE and are attractive as listing vehicles in a variety of geographical markets and business sectors (including mining, pharmaceuticals, real estate and the energy sector). These companies are often incorporated as special purpose acquisition…
BVI Corporate funds have been in the spotlight in recent times due to some high-profile failures (e.g. the Madoff feeder funds). While the Madoff-related funds collapsed due to an underlying fraud, i.e. the Ponzi scheme, funds may also get into difficulty for more mundane reasons such as mismanagement and the wider economic environment. Investors in…
Background All companies incorporated under the International Business Companies Act (1984) (the “IBC Act”) that did not during the transitional period voluntarily elect to be re-registered with a memorandum and articles of association compliant with the BVI Busines Companies Act (2004) (the “BC Act”), were automatically re-registered under the BC Act on 1 January 2007.…
BVIHC(COM) 235 of 2013: Belport Development Limited (BDL) and Chimichanga Corporation – “Encouraging signs regarding enforcing arbitration awards in the BVI”. In any dispute that triggers an arbitration clause, one of the most important questions the Claimant should always ask is “If I am successful at arbitration, will the award be recognised and enforceable in…