In the matter of Stanford International Bank Ltd (In Liquidation) (Acting by and through its Joint Liquidators Mark McDonald and Hugh Dickson)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2018/0075

Jurisdiction

Antigua and Barbuda

Parties

Appellant(s)

Mark McDonald and Hugh Dickson as Joint Liquidators of Stanford International Bank Limited (In Liquidation)

Respondent(s)

Amicus Curiae

Issue

This appeal concerns the interpretation and application of section 204 of the Antiguan International Business Corporations Act (“IBCA”) in the context of the liquidation of Stanford International Bank (“SIB”) on the discovery of a large-scale Ponzi scheme.

Facts

The proceedings arise in the liquidation of SIB which arose as a result of the run on the bank starting in about September 2008 and the discovery of a Ponzi scheme which had been operated at the expense of SIB. SIB went into liquidation in 2009. The Appellants, the joint liquidators of SIB, sought directions from the Court as to whether they could and should pursue claims under section 204 to seek recovery of monies paid to creditors of SIB prior to the commencement of liquidation procedures. At first instance the Appellants were permitted to take the payments into account when making further distributions to payees but were not permitted to commence the claims. Both the Appellants and the First-Respondent appealed. The appeal of the Appellant’s against paragraph 2 of the judge’s order was dismissed and the judge’s order, granting the Appellants limited permission to pursue claims against alleged preference creditors was set aside. The cross-appeal was also dismissed. The Appellants now appeal to the JCPC

Date of issue

6 August 2018

Judgment details

Judgment date

16 December 2019

Neutral citation

[2019] UKPC 45

Judgment links

Appeal

Justices

Lord Wilson

Lord Carnwath

Lord Briggs

Lady Arden

Sir Andrew Longmore

Hearing dates

Full hearing

Start date

23 July 2019

End date

24 July 2019

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