Brighton SPC placed in liquidation
On Friday last week the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) announced that the Brighton SPC umbrella fund had been officially placed into liquidation. This followed an order by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands made on October 6.
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The largest cells within Brighton SPC are those of the Kijani Commodity Fund, which has faced accusations of being a Ponzi scheme. The Kijani Commodity Fund recently relocated to the Caymans from Mauritius, where it was administered by Belvedere Management.
“The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority wishes to advise the public that on 6th October 2015 Brighton SPC was placed into official liquidation with Messrs. Simon Conway and David Walker of PwC Corporate Finance & Recovery (Cayman) Limited appointed as Joint Official Liquidators,” the regulator said in an official notice. “Effective 6th October 2015 the Authority also cancelled Brighton’s mutual fund registration.”
In a note to investors and creditors, PwC stated that it would be holding meetings in London in due course, in which it would present a report on its findings and its proposals for liquidation of the company. It requested that all creditors, investors and shareholders submit a form confirming their position so that it would have complete records. It however did not provide any details on how long the liquidation process might take or what the likely outcome would be.
The majority of investors in the Kijani Commodity Fund are institutional investors, with the largest being Mauritius-licensed life company Belvedere Life. It has a shareholding of around 33%.
Belvedere Life contested the application to have Brighton SPC liquidated on the grounds that it was not in the best interests of shareholders and that it believes the majority of investors oppose it. It also argued that independent audits and valuations have reconciled all of the Kijani Commodity Fund’s cash flows and assets.
The court however ruled against its objection and granted CIMA’s application for liquidation of the company.
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