There comes a time at the end of any company’s life, or such other time as may be stipulated in the articles and memorandum of association, when the directors of the company must decide whether to formally wind up the company.
Music legend Billy Joel never could have imagined that his song “New
York state of mind” would be used in connection with an article
discussing developments in case law interpreting the “Center of Main
Interests” in Chapter 15 proceedings for hedge funds.
For
all the recent criticism about the role markets play in a financial crisis
little has been said about how the market continues to evolve and develop
solutions to heal its own wounds, perhaps none more so, than in the bankruptcy
market.
On 10 December 2008 Bernard Madoff’s sons told authorities their father
had just confessed to them that the asset management arm of his firm was
a massive Ponzi scheme, and quoted him as saying it was “one big lie”.
Five days later Irving Picard was appointed the trustee over Bernard L.
Madoff Investment Securities, LLC.
On 30 July 2010 the Court of Appeal in England and Wales handed down
their decision in Rubin v Eurofinance SA and Others [2009] WLR (D) 282.
The decision may have significant consequences for investment funds (or
any other corporate entity) facing insolvency proceedings in a foreign
jurisdiction.
Clearly when a Cayman Islands liquidator gets appointed by the
shareholders or the Cayman Islands Court, he has a number of duties. He
has a duty to identify, take control and protect the assets of the
company pending the identification and agreement of creditor claims
prior to a distribution.
While one could speak generally of Cayman companies that do business in Cayman, we are finding the greatest impact of this in the liquidation of Cayman hedge funds, particularly in those instances where the investment management, administration and/or assets are in the United States.