Insolvency—Jurisdiction—Agreement of parties

Chancery Division, Mann J, 12 Apr 2013

In order for an English court to provide “assistance” to a foreign court under s 426(4) of the Insolvency Act 1986, there have to be existing or future intended insolvency proceedings in that other court.

Stephen Robins (instructed by CMS Cameron McKenna) for the bank.

The claimant company was registered in Jersey. Its centre of main interests was in Jersey, but its main business activity was in England. It borrowed more than £6m for the defendant bank in order to purchase and develop property in England. That venture was a major failure, and the bank became the defendant’s main creditor.

The director of the claimant and the bank arranged for sale of the property to occur, but considered it appropriate that a form of insolvency procedure occur before sale. It was not considered that Jersey insolvency proceedings would be appropriate, as the only available Jersey procedure, known as “Desastre”, would