The Privy Council Winds Up Salford Estates

This decision relates to an appeal to the Privy Council out of the British Virgin Islands dealing with the question of staying winding up proceedings where there is an agreement to arbitrate. The case has been widely reported but I thought I would post it for those who have not seen it.

In Sian Participation Corp v Halimeda International Ltd [2024] UKPC 16, the Privy Council ruled that the earlier decision in Salford Estates (No 2) Ltd v Altomart Ltd (No 2) [2014] was incorrectly decided. The case involved a debtor company seeking a stay of winding-up proceedings in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), arguing that the dispute over the debt should be referred to arbitration under the parties' agreement. The creditor opposed this, arguing that since the debt was not genuinely disputed, a stay should not be granted.