Important Judgement on Shares in Manx Companies
1st December 2003
In a judgment delivered on 14th November 2003 in the case of World Duty Free Company Limited His Honourable Deemster Kerruish QC has ruled that (with the exception of bearer shares) only the Manx High Court has the jurisdiction to rule upon the ownership of issued shares in Manx companies. This is an important judgment, because it establishes the basic rule that only the Manx High Court can resolve disputes relating to the transfer of ownership of shares in companies incorporated in the Isle of Man. By this judgment the Manx High Court has indicated that in normal circumstances it will not recognise judgments given by foreign courts which purport to transfer ownership of shares in a Manx company away from those persons named in the Register of Members. Only the Manx Court has the power to alter the Register of Members, and this judgment makes it clear that the Manx Court will not do so upon the basis of a foreign judgment.
Seth Caine of Cains Advocates Limited, who acted on behalf of the shareholders in World Duty Free Company Limited, said:
"If there is a dispute as to the ownership of shares in a Manx company, the parties to that dispute must come to the Isle of Man for the Manx Court to resolve it. This judgment should strengthen the grounds for choosing Manx companies for use in foreign ventures, particularly in developing countries in which principles of private international law may not be fully developed, since it means that shareholders cannot be deprived of their shares by a foreign court."
For more information contact: Seth Caine. |
