For this January issue of ONC Corporate Disputes and Insolvency Quarterly, we have included eight Hong Kong cases and six interesting authorities from the U.K. and other parts of the Commonwealth. Of particular interest to insolvency practitioners would be the Hong Kong case Super Speed Ltd (in liq) v Bank of Baroda, where the court clarified the principles for ordering costs against third party funders and liquidators personally. In Official Receiver v Zhi Charles, the CFA held delay in the commencement of bankruptcy period unconstitutional. It is however worth noting that Legislative Council is currently considering the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015, which will introduce a new regime under the Bankruptcy Ordinance. Re Cheung Siu Kin (a bankrupt) is another case of practical importance. In this case, the court considered whether recurrent transfers between family members prior to bankruptcy constitutes transactions at undervalue or unfair preference. Last but not least, in the English decision of Federal Republic of Brazil and another v Durant International Corpn and another, the Privy Council affirmed the availability of “backward tracing” in fraud cases, thereby bringing clarity to a point previously unclear in English law.

Please click 'View PDF' to read the newsletter.