The Supreme Court has today handed down judgment in the hugely significant cross-border insolvency appeals in Rubin and anor -v- Eurofinance SA and New Cap Re -v- Grant.

In summary, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal of the Defendants in Rubin, against the Court of Appeal’s decision to allow enforcement of a judgment in US insolvency proceedings in England & Wales, because the Defendants had not submitted to the jurisdiction of the US court in question (judgment had been entered in the US in default of their appearance). The Supreme Court ruled that it should not endorse or introduce (as the Court of Appeal had sought to do) a special rule for the recognition and enforcement of judgments in foreign insolvency proceedings which went beyond the usual common law rules applicable to the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in this jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court dismissed a similar appeal in the New Cap case because on the facts and the rules of the Australian court in question, it accepted that the Defendants in New Cap should be taken to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the Australian court.

The judgment reins in the ground-breaking decision reached in the Court of Appeal’s decision in Rubin, enabling the enforcement of foreign insolvency proceedings. It does not impact on EU cross-border rules on insolvency proceedings.

Please speak to Richard Baines, head of Druces LLP’s Turnaround, Restructuring & Insolvency team or Julian Johnstone, head of Druces LLP’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution team for more information.