Adam Crane

Practice Areas

As a Partner in the Cayman Islands, Adam focuses on complex and cross-border insolvency & restructuring, asset recovery, and commercial litigation matters. Who’s Who Legal recently recognised Adam as a Global Leader in Restructuring and Insolvency 2024 and 2023, as a Global Leader in Asset Recovery in 2023, and as a Future Leader (Partners) in Commercial Litigation in 2023.

Adam is experienced in offshore and cross-border proceedings involving collapsed or distressed hedge funds and private equity funds, cryptocurrency exchanges and other digital asset enterprises, shareholder and other corporate disputes, and white-collar/civil fraud proceedings.

Adam is often consulted by parties for his expertise in contingent creditor claims in Cayman Islands liquidation proceedings and his expertise in utilising insolvency tools to facilitate asset recovery efforts.

Professional Memberships

In 2020, Adam was inducted into the prestigious International Insolvency Institute (III) – NextGen Leadership Program as a future leader in international insolvency and serves as Chair of the Executive Committee.

In 2023, he was appointed as Co-Chair of the III’s Regional Committee for the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, and as Co-Chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s International Committee.

Work Highlights

Adam's recent work highlights include:

Acting in the multi-jurisdictional asset recovery efforts related to the multi-billion-dollar Malaysian 1MDB fraud scandal, called “the world’s biggest financial scandal” by The Guardian and the “largest kleptocracy case to date” by the United States Department of Justice in 2016. The 1MDB fraud involved the use of complex offshore and onshore corporate structures, including most significantly in the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands.

Acting for retail investors as creditors who petitioned for the appointment of provisional liquidators over and the later winding up of the Cayman Islands holding company for the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, Atom Asset Exchange (AAX). This was the first winding up of a cryptocurrency enterprise in the Cayman Islands.

Acting for the Joint Official Liquidators of Cayman Islands funds formed by Bahraini Awal Bank BSC in liquidation proceedings and litigation involving the defence of a US$9.2 billion claim (AHAB v Saad).

Acting for the Hong Kong appointed Interim Receivers of a multi-billion-dollar private equity fund, XiO Fund I LP, including acting in complex litigation proceedings.

Acting for the Joint Official Liquidators of a Cayman Islands segregated portfolio company, Performance Insurance Company SPC, with twelve segregated portfolios operating in the captive insurance industry.

Acting for the Joint Official Liquidators of two feeder-funds of collapsed hedge fund Platinum Partners Value Arbitrage Fund.