Guy is counsel in our Litigation, Insolvency and Restructuring Group, specialising in contentious matters. He completed his training at the Manchester office of international law firm DLA Piper and qualified as a solicitor in DLA Piper’s Restructuring group in September 2004. Guy continued to practise at DLA Piper until July 2011 when he joined Campbells and was admitted as an attorney at law in the Cayman Islands. He is a Fellow of INSOL International.
Guy Cowan
Counsel
Overview
Expertise
- Contentious restructuring matters – Guy regularly acts for distressed hedge funds, insolvency practitioners, stakeholders and financial institutions in relation to solvent and insolvent liquidations.
- Insolvency litigation – Guy advises on creditor and/or shareholder disputes and remedies, antecedent transactions and enforcement actions.
- Guy also advises office holders, stakeholders and financial institutions in relation to more general commercial disputes.
Work Highlights
Guy has appeared before the Grand Court and the Cayman Islands’ Court of Appeal on numerous occasions. Some examples of his recent cases are:
- Acting for the Joint Liquidators of CL Financial Limited, one of the largest privately held corporate groups in the Caribbean. The company has over 90 subsidiaries and, prior to its collapse in 2017, controlled assets in around 30 countries with a combined value in excess of US$100 billion.
- Acting for Wells Fargo Bank, the successful petitioning creditor of Vantage Drilling Company, with a claim (in its capacity as trustee) exceeding US$1.7 billion in value. The case is significant due to the size of the debt owed, and the fact that the Cayman liquidation is part of a multi-jurisdictional group insolvency, involving concurrent Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States.
- Acting for various creditors of Platinum Partners Value Arbitrage Fund LP (In Official Liquidation), with aggregate claims against the company of approximately US$70 million. Prior to its liquidation, the company is believed to have had total assets in excess of US$1.1 billion.
- Acting for the successful petitioners in the the winding-up of ASEAN Tower Holdco Limited, whose ultimate subsidiary is the third largest telecoms tower company in Vietnam.
- Acting for the Joint Receivers appointed over the operating companies of the Green Dragon Gas group, the largest producer of Coal Bed Methane gas in China.
- Acting for the joint provisional liquidators of Bona Film Group Limited, one of China’s largest production and film distribution companies.
- Acting for three bondholders of China Shanshui Cement Group Ltd, with claims against the company of more than US$100 million. The case had dramatic and significant ramifications for directors of Cayman Islands’ companies and the jurisdiction’s restructuring community more generally.
- Acting for DPM Mellon (an affiliate of BNY Mellon) in connection with substantial claims arising from the US$500 million liquidation of the SPhinX group of funds.
- Acting for three Louisiana pension funds, with claims totalling US$100 million, in successful winding-up proceedings against FIA Leveraged Fund (and the subsequent appeal upholding the liquidation).
Qualifications and Admissions
- Attorney at Law, Cayman Islands, 2011
- College of Law Chester, Diploma in Restructuring, 2010
- Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, 2004 (non-practising)
- College of Law Chester, Legal Practice Course, 2002
- University of Manchester, BA (Hons), 2000
Prior Career History
- DLA Piper UK LLP, Manchester
Professional Associations
- Fellow, INSOL International
- Legal Practitioners Association, Cayman Islands
- Restructuring and Insolvency Specialists Association (RISA), Cayman Islands
- Law Society of England & Wales
Publications and News
Articles
- Campbells contributes to Chambers Insolvency Guide 2021.
Guy Manning and Guy Cowan have co-authored the Cayman Islands chapter of the Chambers Insolvency Guide, 2021. It highlights market trends in the legal industry over the past year. - GRR Americas Restructuring Review.
The Cayman chapter discusses key aspects of the successful Cayman Islands restructuring regime, including schemes of arrangement, provisional liquidation, statutory moratorium, creditors' meetings, COMI shift and the rule in Gibbs. - Campbells Contributes to Chambers Insolvency Guide - Cayman chapter.
Guy Manning and Guy Cowan have co-authored the Chambers Insolvency Guide Cayman Islands chapter for 2020, which highlights market trends and development in restructuring and insolvency in the jurisdiction over the past year. - Campbells Authors Legal 500 Cayman Islands Restructuring & Insolvency Country Comparative Guide 2020.
This country-specific Q&A provides an overview to restructuring & insolvency laws and regulations that may occur in Cayman Islands.
Client Advisories
- Mind the gap: clarifying the scope of sanction applications.
This advisory discusses a recent decision of Mr Justice Doyle, who has provided welcome guidance in relation to the scope and extent of sanction applications brought by official liquidators. - Restructuring in provisional liquidation: In the Matter of Sun Cheong Creative Development Holdings Limited.
As Covid-induced insolvency and restructuring gathers pace, in Sun Cheong Creative Development Holdings Limited the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands (the “Grand Court”) has provided a timely overview of the principles of comity and modified universalism applicable in cross border restructurings.