Cayman Government proposes changes to Company Law
Radical changes to the companies law of the Cayman Islands are being proposed by the government of the jurisdiction. These changes are aimed to simplify the legislation and to make the provisions more suitable to the needs of the Cayman financial services industry.
On September 3, 2007, a bill aimed to repeal and replace part 5 of the Companies Law wit a view to reform the legislation regarding the winding up of companies was published as Supplement No. 1 of Gazette No. 18. The bill was scheduled to be debated on September 17 in the Legislative Assembly.
The bill reflects the Law Reform Commission’s 2005 recommendations, following a 4-year private sector review of the Cayman Islands’ corporate insolvency law.
The Commission’s recommendations included the following:
- to repeal and replace the existing law relating to corporate insolvency as it was unduly complex and out of date;
- to establish an Insolvency Rules Committee for formulating insolvency rules to meet the needs of the Cayman financial services industry;
- codify and incorporate into a new part of the Principal Law international cooperation with respect to insolvency matters, taking into consideration that the basis of cross-border cooperation relative to insolvency matters to a great extent depends on judicial practice.