On 27 April 2020, the Court of Appeal of the Cayman Islands handed down judgment in Goodman v DMS Governance Limited, dismissing the remaining claims made against DMS, the leading fund governance firm, following the 2012 collapse of the Axiom Legal funds. The Grand Court had previously sanctioned the discontinuance of a claim against a professional director appointed to the fund’s investment manager, following the trial of preliminary issues affirming her entitlement to protection under the indemnification provisions contained in the investment manager’s Articles.
The Court of Appeal’s decision considers the scope for a claim for vicarious liability against a fund governance firm in relation to the actions of a professional director and affirms the principle, first established in Kuwait Asia Bank v National Mutual Nominees [1991] 1 AC 187 (PC), that vicarious liability cannot arise in respect of the actions of an employee or agent when discharging their duties as a director.
Ben Valentin QC appeared for the Defendants to the claim, instructed by Mark Goodman and Harry Shaw of Campbells.
A link to the Judgment appears here.
