Heavyweight Insolvency Silk Joins FSD Bench
The Cayman Islands Financial Services Division (FSD) has secured another heavyweight judicial appointment. On 25 September 2026, Her Excellency the Governor, Jane Owen, announced the appointment of Mark Phillips KC as a Judge of the Grand Court, assigned to the FSD. Mr Phillips KC’s appointment takes effect from 2 November 2026, following the retirement of Hon. Justice Nicholas Segal. Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale welcomed the appointment in her own statement accompanying the announcement.
Mr Phillips KC brings to the bench one of the deepest insolvency and restructuring practices at the English Bar. Called in 1984 and appointed silk in 1999, he has practised from South Square in London since 1986, with extensive experience in insolvency, restructuring and commercial law at every level of the courts.
As an advocate, Mr Phillips KC has appeared in many of the most high-profile insolvency and restructuring cases in recent decades, including the Thames Water restructuring,[1] the Lehman Brothers Pensions appeal,[2] the BCCI liquidation and claims arising out of it,[3] and the Maxwell Communications insolvency.[4] Most recently, he appeared for the successful appellant before the UK Supreme Court in Drelle v Servis-Terminal LLC – a decision that received substantial praise in offshore jurisdictions as it clarified that foreign judgments did not need to be formally recognised before being relied upon in support of insolvency proceedings.[5]
Mr Phillips KC is no stranger to the Cayman Islands courts. He first appeared before the Grand Court in 1999, later acted in the SPhinX proceedings,[6] and more recently defended the liquidators in the Saad fraud trial. That trial – the longest in Cayman Islands history, lasting 129 days – ended with the claims against his clients being dismissed.[7] Mr Phillips KC also has substantial experience acting before the Hong Kong courts.[8] Such experience will be invaluable given the frequent overlap between proceedings filed in the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong courts.
Mr Phillips KC’s appointment underscores the continuing suitability of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands for handling complex, high-value cross-border insolvency and restructuring cases, which has historically included the long-running BCCI liquidation, the Madoff feeder fund liquidations, the Saad liquidation, and the Abraaj liquidation (and the many related cases that arose from these liquidations). Mr Phillips KC’s appointment is particularly timely given the expected introduction in the Cayman Islands of a cross-class-cramdown regime similar to the English Part 26A regime – which Mr Phillips KC has been heavily involved with at the English Bar.[9]
Mr Phillips KC succeeds Hon. Justice Nicholas Segal, who leaves a strong legacy in the Cayman Islands, including more than 140 published FSD judgments – many of which are leading judgments in their area.[10] He joins existing FSD Judges including Hon. Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale, Hon. Justice David Doyle, Hon. Justice Jalil Asif, Hon. Justice Raj Parker and Hon. Justice Cheryll Richards.
For those interested in hearing from the freshly-sworn-in Hon. Justice Phillips, he will be speaking at the INSOL International Cayman Islands Seminar to be held on 12 November 2026.[11]
[1] Re Thames Water Utility Holdings Ltd [2025] EWCA 475.
[2] Re Lehman Brothers International (Europe) [2013] UKSC 52.
[3] Three Rivers District Council v Bank of England [2003] AC (HL); Re Bank of Credit and Commerce International [1992] BCLC 570.
[4] Re Maxwell Communications Corporation [1994] 1 All ER 737.
[5] Drelle v Servis-Terminal LLC [2026] UKSC 29. See our earlier article on the case here.
[6] Re SPhinX Group [2010 (2) CILR 1]; Re SPhinX Group [2012 (2) CILR 371].
[7] Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi and Brothers Company v Saad Investments Company Ltd (in Official Liquidation) [2018 (3) CILR 1].
[8] See for example Nuoxi Capital Ltd v Peking University Founder Group Company Ltd [2024] HKCA 445.
[9] Re Waldorf Production UK Ltd [2026] EWHC 1014 (Ch); Re Thames Water Utility Holdings Ltd [2025] EWCA 475; Re Madagascar Oil Ltd [2025] EWHC 2129 (Ch).
[10] Justice Segal leaves a particularly strong legacy in the cross-border insolvency area, having authored judgments such as China Agrotech Holdings Ltd [2017 (2) CILR 526]; [2019 (2) CILR 302]; [2019 (2) CILR 356]; Freeman Fintech Corporation [2021 (1) CILR 426]; and Re E-House (China) Enterprise Holdings Ltd (unrep, 17 November 2022). His Lordship also helped strengthen the ties between the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong judiciaries by taking up a simultaneous appointment as a Deputy High Court Judge in Hong Kong in September 2025.
[11] Details of this conference are available here.
