Kenneth M Krys (as Liquidator of Fairfield Sentry Ltd (In Liquidation)) (Appellant) v Farnum Place LLC (Respondent) (Virgin Islands)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2024/0006

Parties

Appellant(s)

Kenneth M Krys

Respondent(s)

Farnum Place LLC

Issue

When a court considers whether a claimant should be permitted to appeal the decision of a foreign court, must it take into account the fact that the foreign appellate court’s decision has, in fact, already heard and allowed the appeal in question?

Facts

Fairfield Sentry Limited (“Fairfield”), a BVI company, was subject to winding up proceedings in the BVI and New York. The Appellant is the liquidator of Fairfield. Fairfield had a claim in the liquidation of another entity, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (“BLMIS”). In December 2013, Fairfield agreed to sell its BLMIS claim to the Respondent, under a US-law-governed contract. The sale was for a fixed price, and subject to approval from both BVI and US bankruptcy courts. Before the court approvals were secured, the BLMIS claim became much more valuable. Both the US Bankruptcy Court and BVI High Court (“BVIHC”) then approved the sale contract. The Appellant appealed the US approval in the US District Court (“USDC”). The USDC dismissed the appeal. The Appellant then sought to appeal the USDC decision, to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (“SCCA”). Under an existing BVIHC court order, the BVIHC had to sanction any appeal to the SCCA. In July 2013, the BVIHC refused to grant the Appellant this sanction.

Date of issue

18 January 2024

Appeal

Hearing dates and panels are subject to change

Hearing dates

Full hearing

Start date

20 January 2025

End date

21 January 2025

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