By Peter McMaster and Anna Snead ( September 13, 2018, 2:45 PM EDT) -- Two recent court decisions, one in New York and one in the Cayman Islands, provide guidance on bringing shareholder derivative claims on behalf of a Cayman company in a court outside the Cayman Islands (whether in New York or elsewhere). Both cases involved Cayman Islands companies operating in the U.S. Until these decisions, the rule (in New York at least) had been thought to be that to maintain a derivative claim overseas, the shareholder must obtain permission from a Cayman court. In November 2017, the New York Court of Appeals, applying New York law, reversed earlier New York authority on the point, holding that it was not necessary to apply in Cayman. In January 2018, the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, applying Cayman Islands law, reached the same conclusion. It is now clear from these two decisions that derivative claims on behalf of Cayman companies, whether they are brought in the U.S. or elsewhere, do not require permission from a Cayman court. This supposed obstacle to these types of claims has been removed....