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The lengthy time taken to complete corporate liquidations \u201creflects badly on the Bahamas as a jurisdiction\u201d, a senior attorney warned, adding that a \u201csignificant\u201d court ruling should help speed up insolvency processes.<\/p>\nThe lengthy time taken to complete corporate liquidations \u201creflects badly on the Bahamas as a jurisdiction\u201d, a senior attorney warned, adding that a \u201csignificant\u201d court ruling should help speed up insolvency processes.<\/p>\n
Dr Peter Maynard said the verdict by Justice Stephen Isaacs, that liquidations started prior to last year\u2019s new winding-up regime taking effect be continued under the old rules, would eliminate \u201cadditional delays\u201d in numerous Bahamian insolvency proceedings.<\/p>\n
He told Tribune Business that, compared to other countries, the Bahamas \u201cneeded to be more efficient\u201d in bringing corporate insolvencies to a close, as the process seemed to take much longer in this nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf one looks at the figures, the Bahamas seems to be rather late in resolving insolvencies compared to other jurisdictions,\u201d Dr Maynard told this newspaper.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to be more efficient in resolving insolvencies, and this [ruling] is one step by the courts in that direction – interpreting legislation that is quite clear, and which to us is very clear.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former Bahamas Bar Association head added: \u201cI\u2019m fundamentally concerned about compensating creditors rather than insolvencies lasting a long time, and returns being eroded by administrative costs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInsolvencies should be more expedited in the Bahamas than is currently the case. It reflects badly on the Bahamas as a jurisdiction, because insolvencies take rather longer here than compared to other jurisdictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerally speaking, it should be a very efficient process, and we should be at the forefront of this rather than at the back end.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been looking at this question of liquidations, as creditors cannot be expected to wait endlessly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Maynard has experience in this, as he acts for creditors of both Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) and Suisse Security Bank & Trust. The former was placed into liquidation in 1999, the latter in 2001, and both are still ongoing more than a decade later.<\/p>\n
As to the substance of Justice Isaacs\u2019 decision, Dr Maynard said it fully endorsed the view he had previously expressed to Tribune Business – that last year\u2019s insolvency amendments and Companies Liquidation Rules 2012 did not apply to liquidations started prior to their enactment.<\/p>\n
He took the position that the law was \u201cunambiguous\u201d, and that the \u2018saving provisions\u2019 of the Companies (Winding Up Amendment) Act 2011 applied to both the Gulf Union and Suisse Security liquidations.<\/p>\n
Citing section 7 (2) (a) of that Act, Dr Maynard previously said this allowed liquidations either partially or wholly completed under the previous law to continue as if that legislation was still in force.<\/p>\n
He told Tribune Business yesterday that this provision seemed \u201cquite explicit\u201d in the Act, but Justice Isaacs\u2019 ruling had made it more so.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other side [the Gulf Union liquidators] were suggesting they would have to start all over again. That\u2019s a waste of resources and a waste of time,\u201d Dr Maynard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt saves any additional delay in providing satisfaction to the creditors. It\u2019s very significant in that the new liquidation rules should not carry over to the old insolvencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows confidence by the court that it does carry over, and for creditors it\u2019s a step in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colin Jupp, another attorney at Dr Maynard\u2019s law firm, told Tribune Business that the question of whether the new insolvency statute and rules applied to pre-existing liquidations had been coming up frequently.<\/p>\n
Suggesting that Justice Isaacs\u2019 ruling would provide clarity and eliminate any uncertainty, he said: \u201cThis has been coming up quite often in various liquidations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Order that came down seems to give a light to the direction they [liquidators] and the courts should be taking on this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Neil Hartnell,<\/em><\/span> Corporate liquidations take longer in The Bahamas than any other jurisdiction and it \u201creflects badly on the Bahamas\u201d, a senior attorney warned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[153],"class_list":["post-36228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","tag-business-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36228\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe Tribune<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"