Apr 2012
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
HIGH COURT
COMPANIES – UNFAIR PREJUDICE – BVI BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT S. 841 – STRIKE OUT – NO UNFAIR PREJUDICE WHERE DERIVATIVE ACTION LIES
Here the Applicant, Allan Leddra, applied to strike out the Claimant’s unfair prejudice Claim under Section 1841 of the BVI Business Companies Act (the “Act”) on the basis that the claim as pleaded included claims in respect of a wrong actionable at the suit of the Company which amounted to an unauthorized derivative claim. The Applicant relied on the case of Re Chime Corp Ltd (2004) 7 HKCFAR where Lord Scott held that while the Courts of Hong Kong had jurisdiction in the strict sense to entertain within the confines of an unfair prejudice application a claim for relief in respect of a wrong actionable at the suit of the company in question such a claim would ordinarily not be allowed to be advanced unless the claim for recovery corresponded precisely with the company’s claim and it was clear from the pleading that that quantification of the value of the claim could be made conveniently at trial.