We would like to highlight several cases in this April issue of ONC Corporate Disputes and Insolvency Quarterly.

Of particular significance to insolvency practitioners would be the Hong Kong case Re Lehman Brothers Futures Asia Ltd (in liquidation) HCMP 2264/2016. In this case, Harris J held that in considering a scheme of arrangement, even a material difference in rights is not necessarily sufficient to require creditors to be divided into separate classes if the circumstances of the case demonstrate that notwithstanding differences in existing rights there is sufficient commonality of interest in the commercial purpose and substance of the proposed compromise that they can deliberate on the scheme as one class. Another significant case is the Supreme Court’s decision in Akers and others (Respondents) v Samba Financial Group (Appellant) [2017] UKSC 6, in which the Court held that a common law trust may be created in respect of the shares in question, even though the law of Saudi Arabia, where the shares are sited, does not recognize trusts in any form. Further, the Court held that where an asset is held on trust, the legal title remains capable of transfer to a third party. But the trust rights (of the beneficiary) are not disposed of, they continue to be capable of enforcement unless and until the disposition of the legal title has the effect of overriding the trust rights (such as when it is disposed to bona fide purchaser without notice). In another important English decision, Green v Wright [2017] EWCA Civ 111, the Court took the view that a trust in favor of creditors constituted by an IVA survives the completion of the IVA. The “property” subject to the IVA continues to be held on trust. Further, in the ground-breaking decision, Shih-Hua Investment Co Ltd v Zhang Aidong and Others HCCW 198/2016, Anthony Chan J held that Hong Kong courts have jurisdiction to grant a mandatory interlocutory injunction for the reconstitution of the board of directors of a company. Last but not least, in the Singapore case of Chong Chin Fook v Solomon Alliance Management Pte Ltd and others and another matter [2017] SGCA 05, the Singapore Court of Appeal reversed the decision of the High Court, finding that in an application for leave to control the conduct of an on-going suit on behalf of a company, a demonstration by the applicant that it is probable that the company will not diligently prosecute the action will suffice. The bar would be set at too high a level if the complainant has to demonstrate an actual lack of diligent prosecution.

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