Guy Cowan
Partner
Related expertise
About
Guy is a partner in our Litigation, Insolvency and Restructuring Group. He completed his training and qualified as a solicitor at the global law firm DLA Piper, before moving to the Cayman Islands and joining Campbells in July 2011. He specialises in advising stakeholders, financial institutions, independent directors and insolvency practitioners in relation to solvent and insolvent liquidations, shareholder disputes and other financial services litigation. He is a Fellow of INSOL International.
Experience
- 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, particularly those involving cryptocurrency issues.
-
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 Official Liquidators of Ascentra Holdings, Inc. a complex cross-border liquidation involving claims worth in excess of US$250m. In addition to those claims, the case also involves various pieces of significant satellite litigation, including Chapter 15 proceedings before the US Bankruptcy Court and proceedings in Singapore, where Singapore’s highest appellate court allowed an appeal by the JOLs and confirmed for the first time that solvent official liquidations can be recognised as foreign main proceedings under Singapore law.
- Acting for the successful petitioners in respect of HQP Corporation Limited, a private equity fund which was placed into liquidation following a widespread and admitted fraud. The case is extremely significant, as it is first time that the Cayman Islands Court has considered, substantively, the application of the English common law rule in Houldsworth v City of Glasgow Bank. In a landmark judgment, the Grand Court agreed with the petitioners that the English common law rule in Houldsworth does not apply in the Cayman Islands, and confirmed that shareholders of companies in liquidation may therefore bring claims for damages based on misrepresentation.
- Acting for the Liquidator 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 the for the JVLs of TGT GP and TGT LP, which form part of the Unifi Group, a cryptocurrency lending platform. The case involves potential claims arising from matters including the FTX exchange collapse, and a number of novel issues relating to cryptocurrency disputes involving Cayman exempted limited partnerships, for which there is limited judicial guidance.
- Acting for various creditors of Three Arrows Capital, a cryptocurrency hedge fund incorporated in the British Virgin Islands which was placed into liquidation in 2022 having incurred losses in excess of $3 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 the successful petitioners in 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.
-
Qualifications and admissions
- Admitted in the British Virgin Islands, 2024
- Admitted in the 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
-
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
-
Legal 500 Restructuring & Insolvency Country Comparative Guide 2025
Guy Cowan and Lisa Yun co-author the 2025 edition of the Legal 500 Restructuring & Insolvency Country Comparative Guide.
-
Legal 500 Cayman Guide – Restructuring & Insolvency
In this guide, Guy Cowan discusses practical issues creditors face, restructuring plans and procedures, contracts, claims and liabilities, and much more.
-
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 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.
-
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
-
Misrepresentation Claims in Liquidations: Houldsworth Revisited
This advisory discusses the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal's important and clarifying guidance on the admissibility and ranking of shareholder misrepresentation claims in liquidations.
-
Privy Council provides important guidance in relation to applications to approve liquidators’ remuneration
Guy Cowan and Sam Keogh examine the recent Privy Council decision in Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago v CL Financial Ltd (in Liquidation) ([2025] UKPC 41), which clarifies the approach courts should take when considering applications for liquidators’ remuneration, including the requirement for detailed scrutiny and the treatment of state creditors in insolvency proceedings
-
Ascentra: helpful guidance on the Grand Court’s approach to proprietary injunctions
On 23 May 2024, The Honourable Justice Parker, in Ascentra Holdings, Inc. (in Official Liquidation) v Ryunosuke Yoshida & Ors) (FSD 300 of 2023), granted an on-notice interim proprietary injunction in favour of the plaintiff company, Ascentra Holdings Inc. (in Official Liquidation), acting by its Joint Official Liquidators, in respect of funds held in various bank accounts in Singapore, Taiwan and the United States.
-
It’s not about the money, money, money
A landmark decision of the Singapore Court of Appeal in Ascentra Holdings, Inc. and Others v SPGK Pte Ltd has overturned the first instance decision of the Singapore High Court and confirmed that solvent official liquidations can be recognised as foreign main proceedings under Singapore’s adaptation of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency. In so deciding, the Singapore Court has declined to follow a decision of the English High Court which had held that a company’s insolvency was a prerequisite for recognition under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency.
-
Out with the Hould: landmark decision paves the way for shareholder misrepresentation claims against companies in liquidation
In a significant decision for the Cayman Islands in In The Matter of HQP Corporation Ltd (in Official Liquidation) (FSD 190 of 2021 (DDJ)), the Grand Court has clarified that there is no bar to shareholders bringing claims for misrepresentation against a company in liquidation and, further, that such claims (if admitted) will rank as unsecured debts of the company.
-
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.
-
Legal 500 Restructuring & Insolvency Country Comparative Guide 2025
