The section 238 appraisal process under the Companies Act [1] in the Cayman Islands is a vital safeguard designed to protect minority shareholders' economic interests. When there is a merger or consolidation involving at least one Cayman company under Part XVI of the Companies Act, a dissenting shareholder may demand payment of the “fair value” in respect of all his shares ...
Many billions of assets under management have already been tokenised. High profile managers such as Franklin Templeton, Abrdn, KKR, Mitsui and Hamilton Lane have already launched tokenised products. Whilst there is no doubt that this is a nascent space, and these assets still represent a tiny percentage of the funds industry, we expect this area to grow exponentially in the coming years. What is tokenisation? Tokenisation is the digital representation of "traditional" financial assets (e.g ...
The Supreme Court's judgment is a landmark decision of significant importance in the arena of company law and directors' duties ...
Contents Abstract What is an asset protection trust? Conflict of laws What is the objective of firewall legislation? What is the objective of fraudulent transfer legislation in a trust context? Jurisdiction Does comity continue to undermine firewalls? Simplification of structure of Bermuda's firewall legislation Extension of Bermuda's firewall When is a foreign order 'inconsistent' with the firewall legislation? Conclusion ABSTRACT View More
Short term holiday lets in Jersey Following the introduction of the Planning and Building (General Development – Short-term Holiday Lets) (Jersey) Amendment Order 2024 (the "2024 Order") which comes in to force on 1 April 2024, properties may be used for the purpose of short-term holiday lets for up to 12 weeks in each calendar year ...
How does Singapore's business environment make it an attractive location for foreign law firms? Anthony McKenzie: Singapore is considered a favourable destination for doing business due to its political stability, strong legal framework, well-regulated financial sector, competitive tax rates, excellent infrastructure and pro-business policies that attract foreign investment. It has a highly skilled and educated workforce with a strong emphasis on innovation and technological advancements ...
The BVI is a leading international financial centre, and BVI companies play a significant role in the flow of capital across the global economy. As global economic conditions become more challenging, lenders are increasingly reliant on formal insolvency procedures to realise value from distressed assets. As a result, the past year has seen a marked increase in the use of statutory demands against BVI companies as a precursor to an application to appoint liquidators ...
However, in the light of the recent decisions in Rangecroft Ltd v Lenox International Holdings Ltd [1] , IS Investment Fund Segregated Portfolio Company v Fair Cheerful Ltd [2] , and most recently in A Creditor v Anonymous Company Ltd [3], a reassessment is required as to whether the procedure is truly optional. The Court in Lenox International highlighted the importance of following the "two-step process" to wind up a company on the basis of its insolvency ...
Strengthened collaboration between BVI and PRC: a precedent of enforcing a PRC arbitral award Background In Window of Trade, the Claimant applied to the BVI Court to enforce the Award in favour of the Claimant. The Award required the Second Defendant to return 100% of the equity in the First Defendant, a BVI company, to the Claimant and to assist the Claimant in restoring its name to the register of members of the First Defendant. The Second Defendant opposed the enforcement of the Award ...
Succession of digital assets in Guernsey What are digital assets? The term "digital assets" does not yet have a legal definition in Guernsey but it can broadly be understood to mean any asset that is represented digitally or electronically.[1] Digital assets include: cryptocurrencies; NFTs; social media accounts; photos, audio files and video stored in the cloud; reward cards/loyalty programmes; online bank accounts; email accounts; eBooks; websites ...
Corporate income tax Residences Companies tax resident in Guernsey are subject to income tax on their worldwide income ...
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission (“GFSC”) has published its Guidance for CIS on measures to counter the risk of greenwashing (“Guidance”) which applies to all collective investment schemes which are authorised or registered under the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2020 and to those responsible for preparing the prospectuses and other marketing materials of such schemes ...
1. The legislative regime In conjunction with the VASP Act, the FSC also published Guidance on the Application for Registration of a Virtual Assets Service Provider (the “VASP Registration Guidance”) (available to view here), and the Virtual Assets Service Providers Guide to the Prevention of Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Proliferation Financing (available to view here) ...
The economic substance requirements in the Cayman Islands, introduced by the International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) Act (as revised) (the “ES Act”) (Economic substance requirements in the Cayman Islands), have been extended to partnerships pursuant to the International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) (Amendment of Schedule) Regulations 2021, which came into force on 30 June 2021 ...
The current regime Under the current regime in the Cayman Islands, the only option for a company to obtain a moratorium on claims, and to benefit from what is often seen as necessary breathing room to explore a restructuring, is for a winding up petition to be issued against the company and for the company to be placed into provisional liquidation, with provisional liquidators (JPLs) appointed over the company on a light-touch basis with the mandate to explore a restructuring of the company&r
Whilst generational wealth from around the world has commonly been held, in some form, via Cayman trusts, the client base of the local trust industry has in recent years expanded greatly to include a wider range of global family offices, ultra-high-net-worth individuals, and entrepreneurs keen to take advantage of the modern and flexible options on offer ...
The Jersey Retail Price Index (“JRPI”), the main measure of inflation, was 7.9% higher in June 2022 than it was 12 months before - the highest rate of increase seen since 1992. 1 The next JRPI is due to be released in October 2022 and further significant increases are expected. Such a hefty rise in inflation is concerning – it is inevitable that people will suffer from a worrying financial squeeze ...
The Guernsey Housing Association has recently advised that there are currently more than 500 people on the waiting list for affordable housing. Affordable housing is housing that is reserved for certain groups of people whose needs are not met by, or cannot afford to rent or buy property in, the private market ...
Even for those who know that ESG is an acronym for Environmental, Social and Governance there is a lot of subjectivity in the way the term is understood ...
The high street will of course evolve according to prevailing consumer habits. That evolution has been brought into sharp focus by the pandemic, where retailers have had to adapt to the restrictions imposed on non-essential retail at certain times combined with the general growth of e-commerce. That said, the retail market in Guernsey compares well to the UK market and is seen as an attractive opportunity for retailers, both for well-known UK brands and local independents alike ...
The concept of “natural capital” seeks to recognise the role of nature as an asset which is key to the sustained functioning of human social and economic activity. Examples of natural capital include clean air, water supply, plant life, animals, soil and minerals ...
The Policy will apply to a broader range of regulated entities and includes updates to take account of Jersey’s evolving regulatory framework. The key amendments to the Policy are as follows: private funds or other funds with a consent issued pursuant to the Control of Borrowing (Jersey) Order 1958 (“COBO”), (which could include funds not domiciled in Jersey and unregulated funds) are not caught under the Policy ...
Under the GDPR, transfers of personal data are permitted without restriction to countries that the European Commission (the "EC") has assessed as providing an "adequate" standard of protection for personal data. The current list of countries considered "adequate" is Andorra, Argentina, Canada (for commercial organisations), Faroe Islands, Guernsey, Israel, Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, New Zealand, Switzerland and Uruguay and the United Kingdom ...
Jersey contracts are not subject to a general duty of good faith and mere silence, without more, cannot amount to a misrepresentation. These were some of the key outcomes of the Royal Court's decision in Hard Rock Limited and Anor v HRCKY Limited [2023] JRC 169. What happened? In 1999, Hard Rock sold to HRCKY the franchise rights to run a Hard Rock Café in the Cayman Islands. The franchise was initially a lucrative operation ...
What is the ROE? The ROE is a UK wide register created through the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, administered by the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales. A key aim of the legislation is to obtain and record details of property located anywhere in the UK held by overseas entities as well as to ascertain details of the beneficial owner(s) of such overseas entities ...
