BELIZE Law and Practice Contributed by: Tim Prudhoe, Nadia Chiesa and Lemelko Missick, Stanbrook Prudhoe
same debtor, the High Court must seek co-operation and co-ordination in accordance with: • Section 472 – co-operation and direct communica - tion between the High Court and foreign courts or foreign representatives; • Section 473 – co-operation and direct communi - cation between the insolvency administrator and foreign courts or representatives; and • Section 474 – permissible forms of co-operation. When a Belize proceeding and a foreign proceeding are ongoing simultaneously: • any relief granted under Section 466 (interim relief) or 468 (relief upon recognition of a foreign proceeding) must be consistent with the Belize insolvency process; • if the foreign proceeding is recognised as a foreign main proceeding, Section 467 (effect of recogni - tion) will not apply to the extent it conflicts with the Belize proceeding; and • if the Belize proceeding begins after recognition of a foreign proceeding, any relief previously granted must be reviewed, modified or terminated if incon - sistent with the local process. If more than one foreign proceeding exists for the same debtor, the High Court must again seek co- ordination under Sections 472–474 of the Act. The Court ensures that: • relief granted to a foreign ancillary proceeding is consistent with a recognised foreign main proceed - ing; • where a foreign main proceeding is later recog - nised, previously granted relief is reviewed and adjusted for consistency; and • in the case of multiple foreign ancillary proceed - ings, the Court must grant, modify or terminate relief to facilitate effective co-ordination of all related proceedings. 6.6 Foreign Creditors Foreign creditors are treated on substantially the same footing as domestic creditors, but certain procedural and notification safeguards apply to ensure cross- border transparency and co-ordination. The Act is
designed to comply with modern international stand - ards, specifically Part XVIII (Cross-Border Insolvency) and Part XIX (Orders in Aid of Foreign Proceedings). Section 460 of the Act provides that foreign creditors shall have the same rights regarding the commence - ment of, and participation in, a Belize insolvency pro - ceeding as Belize creditors. This establishes non-discrimination; foreign creditors may file claims, attend meetings and receive distribu - tions on the same basis as local creditors. There are no additional registration or residency requirements for claim recognition. Section 478 of the Act is a cross-border fairness rule that prevents a creditor who has already received a payment in a foreign insolvency proceeding from claiming the same debt again in Belize until other creditors of the same class have caught up propor - tionately. It preserves the pari passu principle, whereby credi - tors of equal ranking must be treated equally and share distributions in proportion to the size of their claims across international proceedings involving the same debtor. Section 461 of the Act is a cross-border due process safeguard. It ensures that foreign creditors, that is, creditors located outside Belize, receive timely and adequate notice of any insolvency proceedings com - menced in Belize that could affect their rights. 7. Duties and Liability of Directors and Officers 7.1 Duties of Directors Under the Act, directors’ duties are set out in law and go beyond normal management responsibilities once a company starts showing signs of financial trouble. When a company is financially healthy, directors are expected to act honestly, in good faith and in the best interests of the company as a whole. This usu - ally means focusing on members’ interests, but they
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