English High Court gives guidance on the so-called creditor duty where a company faces solvency-threatening claim

When a company is in the so-called “twilight zone” approaching insolvency, it is well-established that the directors’ fiduciary duties require them to take into account interest of creditors (the so-called “creditor duty”). In the recent decision of Stephen John Hunt v Jagtar Singh [2023] EWHC 1784 (Ch), the English High Court examined whether it is necessary … Read more

Not “worthless window dressing”: Hong Kong Court declares keepwell deeds are enforceable contractual obligations

In two remarkably similar cases, Re Peking University Founder Group Company Limited [2023] HKCFI 1350 (the “Peking University Case”) and Re Tsinghua Unigroup Co., Ltd [2023] HKCFI 1572 (the “Tsinghua Case”), the Hong Kong Court affirmed the enforceability of keepwell deeds entered into by PRC companies as credit enhancement for bonds issued by their respective offshore subsidiaries. The … Read more

Hong Kong SFC broadens powers to tackle insider dealing, but puts on hold other proposed measures following industry feedback

In June 2022, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) proposed a number of sweeping enforcement-related reforms which would have, among others, significantly enhanced the SFC’s ability to obtain investor compensation orders against regulated persons who had committed wrongdoing if enacted (please refer to our June 2022 briefing). Read more

The Hong Kong Court reiterates that a company remains only a nominal party in unfair prejudice petitions fought between its shareholders

Unfair prejudice petitions are a means for minority shareholders to seek redress against a shareholder said to be in control of the company, on the basis that the latter has caused the company’s affairs to be conducted in a manner that is unfairly prejudicial to their interests as minority shareholders. Since such petitions do not … Read more

English High Court reaffirms decision not to allow activists to proceed with derivative action against Shell

In our recent blog post, we discussed the English High Court’s decision to block the shareholder derivative action commenced by an activist shareholder, ClientEarth, against Shell’s directors. The English High Court found that ClientEarth did not have a prima facie case against Shell’s directors. While this previous decision was made on the papers, ClientEarth invoked … Read more