O’Keefe and another v Caner and others [2017] All ER (D) 95 (May), [2017] EWHC 1105 (Ch)
The Companies Court ruled on a preliminary issue concerning limitation, which arose in a claim, under s 212 of the Insolvency Act 1986, which had been brought by the applicant joint liquidators of two Jersey companies in liquidation in England. The claim alleged misfeasance and breach of directors’ duties by the respondents in respect of the various payments allegedly made from the companies’ bank accounts. The court held that the duty owed, under Art 74 of the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991, was a fiduciary duty in the strict sense, and not tortious in nature. Accordingly, the prescriptive period for both causes of action, under Art 74, was 10 years, being the default period applicable to personal claims under Jersey law, and not three years, being the relevant period applicable to breach of trust and to tort under Jersey law, as the first to the fifth respondents had contended. Accordingly, the claims were not time-barred.
