The Central Bank of Ireland has published guidance notes and submission templates on the new outsourcing registers that regulated financial services providers are expected to establish and maintain.

For any entities that are required to submit registry information to the Central Bank, details of outsourcing arrangements in place as of 31 December 2021 must be submitted via the online reporting system by close of business on 7 October 2022.

The latest advisory from Walkers' Asset Management & Investment Funds Group explains the scope of the rules, reviews the guidance notes, and sets out the key deadlines.

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Facts

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• Companies may present a petition to the Cayman Court seeking the appointment of a restructuring officer on the grounds that: (i) the company is or is likely to become unable to pay its debts; and (ii) intends to present a compromise or arrangement to its creditors (or classes thereof) either, pursuant to the Companies Act (such as by way of a Cayman Islands scheme of arrangement), a foreign law or by way of a consensual restructuring.

• The petition seeking the appointment of a restructuring officer may be presented by the directors of a company: (i) without a shareholder resolution and/or an express power to present a petition in its articles of association; and (ii) without the need to file a winding up petition as a prerequisite.

• A standalone restructuring moratorium on unsecured creditor action will automatically arise on filing the application seeking the appointment of restructuring officers, which will have exterritorial effect, as a matter of Cayman Islands law (previously, the moratorium only took effect upon the appointment of provisional liquidators rather than filing the application).

• Cayman Islands schemes of arrangement may now potentially be able to compromise English law-governed debt, thereby expanding the scope of the applicability of the Cayman Islands restructuring regime to more debt restructuring situations.

• Secured creditors with security over the whole or part of the assets of the company will remain entitled to enforce their security without the leave of the Cayman Court and without reference to any restructuring officer.

Another important legislative reform is the removal of the “majority in number” or “head-count” test for shareholder schemes of arrangement such that only the “majority in value” test must be satisfied to approve a proposed shareholder scheme of arrangement at the relevant meeting(s).

Further details on the new restructuring officer regime and other amendments to the Companies Act can be found here:

• Sea change in the Cayman Islands: A new restructuring officer regime
• New restructuring officer regime to be introduced into the Cayman Islands

Overview

In a recent decision of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands (the "Court") concerning a supervision order in respect of a Cayman company in voluntary liquidation, Kawaley J considered the settled principles in a solvent Cayman Islands liquidation involving a dispute as to the identity of the official liquidators to be appointed.


The Proceeding

In the Matter of Sciens Alternative Assets Recovery Fund II (in Voluntary Liquidation) (the “Fund”) [FSD 103 of 2022 (IKJ)], the incumbent voluntary liquidator presented a petition seeking orders to bring the voluntary liquidation of the Fund under supervision of the Court, and for the appointment of the incumbent voluntary liquidator as official liquidator of the Fund. It was common ground amongst the parties that a supervision order should be made. The dispute arose as to the identity of the official liquidator, with the critical question arising being which party’s interest should be afforded more weight: the management shareholder (seeking the appointment of the incumbent voluntary liquidator) or the majority economic shareholder in the Fund (seeking the appointment of David Griffin and Andrew Morrison of FTI Consulting (Cayman) Ltd (the “FTI Nominees”)).

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