The Eurofinance Case - Knock, Knock, Knocking On England’s Door

At the end of May the Supreme Court in England heard arguments on one of the most important decisions it could be asked to make in English insolvency law in recent years.

The background to this case arises out of the liquidation of a The Consumers Trust (TCT) under Chapter 11 provisions in New York. The liquidators of TCT subsequently initiated recovery proceedings in New York against a number of respondents including Eurofinance SA, and certain individuals (the Appellants).

The Appellants did not appear in the New York proceedings, refusing to submit to the jurisdiction of the New York court, and judgment was given against them in their absence.

However, a judgment is only as good as the assets available to pay it - and the Appellants did not have sufficient assets in the US to do so. Accordingly, it was necessary for the Liquidators to try and enforce their New York judgment in England against the Appellants' English assets. In doing so, they came up against