Clifford Chance

The Privy Council has rejected the English approach toward insolvency petitions where there is an arbitration agreement

31 July 2024

The Privy Council in Sian Participation Corp (In Liquidation) v Halimeda International Ltd [2024] UKPC 16 has held that the proper test when the court is deciding whether to make an order for the liquidation of a company is whether the debt on which the application is based is genuinely disputed on substantial grounds. In so deciding, the Court held that the English case of Salford Estates, on which the English position is premised, was wrongly decided, and that the courts of the British Virgin Islands and England should therefore not follow it.

In this briefing, we examine the repercussions of the decision and compare the position in other major common law jurisdictions.

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