Welcome to our March 2016 BVI litigation and insolvency bulletin, co-authored by Ben Mays, Andrew Chissick and Jevaughn Rhymer.

This edition of the bulletin contains reports on four recent cases:

  • A Court of Appeal judgment distinguishing the approach of the BVI Court from the English Court in respect of judicial discretion when determining whether to stay winding up proceedings in favour of arbitration. The judgment also considers the applicable test for determining whether a debt is disputed on genuine and substantial grounds. 
  • A notable decision of the Privy Council discussing the extent to which parties to a dispute are entitled to a stay under the Arbitration Ordinance 1976 (the "Arbitration Ordinance") without themselves having initiated arbitration proceedings. 
  • A judgment of Mr Justice Leon of the BVI Commercial Court on whether the court can intervene in a valuation process conducted by appraisers pursuant Section 179(9) of the BVI Business Companies Act (the "Act"), which provides for the calculation of the fair value of a shareholder's shares where a company seeks, amongst other things, to compulsorily effect a share redemption.
  • A Court of Appeal decision discussing the correct test for considering whether a claim is likely to succeed when the court evaluates whether to permit a derivative action to proceed in accordance with Section 184C of the Act. 

To read the bulletin, please click here.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.