Key Points
- Costs incurred in preparing to comply with disclosure orders
not payable by liquidators
- Protection for wasted costs should have been sought earlier in
the proceedings
The Facts
The liquidators of two companies wound up in the Cayman Islands
(SICL and SHL) sought disclosure of documents
relating to those companies from PwC in Bermuda. Orders were made
at first instance and then set aside, in the case of SICL by the Court of Appeal of Bermuda and in
the case of SHL by the Privy Council.
This judgment deals with the costs incurred by PwC in preparing to
provide documentation prior to the orders being set aside.
Decision
The Privy Council (Lord Clarke dissenting) held that the costs
which had been sought (but not obtained) by PwC during the course
of proceedings were only the costs of compliance and not the costs
of preparatory work which later proved to be unnecessary due to the
disclosure orders being set aside. Protection in relation to
