Nov 2015
BERMUDA
SUPREME COURT
COMPANY LAW – SHAREHOLDERS – TEST FOR UNFAIR PREJUDICE – APPLICATION TO PUBLIC COMPANIES
Shareholders who believe that they are being treated unfairly have several remedies. One of the most effective can be an unfair prejudice petition. Such petitions were historically rare in Bermuda, not least because the hurdle is a high one. A petitioner must not only show that its interests (as shareholder) have been unfairly prejudiced. It must also show that the prejudice is so bad that it would justify the winding up of the company on just and equitable grounds.
In Annuity & Life -v- Kingboard [2015] (Bda) LR 97, Kawaley CJ found that this test had been met. What makes the case particularly notable is that Kingboard is a company publically listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.