Herbert Smith Freehills secures further victory in Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal for bank in defending liquidator claim for fraud

21 June, 2022
Last week, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal refused to grant liquidators (the Liquidators) of Galleria (Hong Kong) Limited (Galleria), a Hong Kong company, leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal in relation to their action against one of Galleria’s former lenders (the Bank) for knowing receipt, dishonest assistance and fraudulent trading. The … Read more

Hong Kong Court holds that commercial decisions in a voluntary winding up fall in the remit of a liquidator

24 May, 2022
We previously wrote about the Court’s attitude to liquidators’ applications for directions on matters arising in a compulsory winding up (i.e., by the court) under section 200 of the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance, Cap. 32 (CWUMPO) (see our articles here and here). For voluntary winding ups, a similar provision, being section 255 of CWUMPO, applies. … Read more

Dousing the phoenix – an initial decision on Australia’s creditor defeating dispositions regime

23 May, 2022
The first case has been decided under Australia’s statutory powers to set aside “creditor defeating dispositions”.  In IntelliComms Pty Ltd (in liq) [2022] VSC 228 Associate Justice Gardiner of the Victorian Supreme Court considered a transaction involving a business sale agreement entered into minutes before Intellicomms Pty Ltd (Intellicomms) passed a resolution to enter into … Read more

Nobody expects the inquisition: High Court of Australia opens the door to extraordinary public examination powers to potential class action plaintiffs and beyond

19 April, 2022
In its recent decision in Walton v ACN 004 410 833 Limited (formerly Arrium Limited) (in liquidation) [2022] HCA 3 (Walton), the High Court of Australia held, in a split decision, that the mandatory public examination power contained in section 596A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act) could be used by eligible applicants … Read more

Hong Kong Court issues letter of request under Mainland-Hong Kong arrangement for recognition in respect of Cayman company

04 April, 2022
In a further development to cross-border insolvency cooperation between Hong Kong and Mainland China, the Hong Kong Court has issued a letter of request to a Mainland Court requesting recognition and assistance of Hong Kong liquidators appointed over a Cayman company, under the mutual recognition arrangement introduced on 14 May 2021 (the Arrangement, see our … Read more

Increasing sanctions on Russia and their financial impact

23 March, 2022
Over recent weeks the scale of international sanctions imposed by a large number of countries in respect of Russia has increased rapidly. These sanctions are beginning to have significant financial and economic impacts, both on Russia itself but also on many companies around the world with Russian financial exposures, investments, suppliers and customers. The Herbert … Read more

High Court of Australia dismisses Willis appeal on “giving possession” of aircraft equipment following insolvency

17 March, 2022
The High Court of Australia has unanimously dismissed the appeal of Wells Fargo Trust Company, National Association (Wells Fargo) on the construction of Article XI(2) of the Cape Town Convention’s protocol on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment (Protocol). This decision is of importance to the global aviation community as it is the first decision by … Read more