In this episode of our Take 10 podcast, Asia Managing Partner Ian Mann and Counsel Andrew Chin talk about how the legislature and judiciary of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the Cayman Islands are constructing a favourable landscape for the application of interim measures in aid of international arbitration, no matter where those arbitrations are seated.

Key takeaways:

• The BVI and Cayman Islands have established themselves as one of the key commercial jurisdictions in favour of arbitration by integrating the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration into their legislative framework and adopting a pro-enforcement judicial attitude to the enforcement of arbitral awards.
• The most common type of interim measures taken in support of arbitration in the BVI and the Cayman Islands are Norwich Pharmacal applications to find out the identity and nature of the wrongdoers and applications for a freezing order to restrain the unlawful dissipation of assets.
• Regulatory arbitrage is more prevalent in international arbitration due to its cross border nature. For example, if one had delayed in seeking a freezing order or could not prove a dissipation of assets, the Hong Kong courts may deny relief. However, this is not a requirement in the PRC where a freezing injunction could be obtained without fulfilling those criteria.