Bermuda’s business and legal community yesterday hailed a New York Appeal Court decision in a long-running case against a former Tyco International director related to his $20 million “finders fee”.The Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC) and a local lawyer said the Appeal Court ruling reversing a lower court decision reflected positively on Bermuda law and the Island’s reputation as an international business centre.ABIC, represented by the Bermuda firm of Sedgwick Chudleigh had filed a brief in support of Tyco’s appeal.Tyco’s former CEO Dennis Kozlowski became a poster boy for corporate greed when he was imprisoned after being convicted of stealing millions from the former Bermuda-based company and using Tyco funds to throw lavish parties and buy expensive things for his Manhattan apartment.Bermuda law and the ability of boards of directors of Bermuda companies to ratify breaches of fiduciary duty by a director was at the centre of the case last month before the New York Second Circuit Court of Appeal.Tyco had sued Frank E. Walsh, Jr., a former member of Tyco’s board of directors, for breaching his fiduciary duty to Tyco by secretly receiving a $20 million payment from Tyco in connection with Tyco’s acquisition of CIT Group., and failing to disclose his financial interest in the acquisition.But a District Court determined, in favour of Walsh, that under Bermuda law, Tyco’s board of directors had implicitly ratified the payment to Walsh, even though he had indeed breached his fiduciary duty to the company.The decision was potentially damaging to Bermuda’s reputation on corporate governance.However, on Wednesday the New York Court of Appeal reversed that lower court decision.Kiernan Bell, the Bermuda head of Appleby’s litigation & insolvency department, who is familiar with the case said yesterday: “This is a great result for Bermuda as the first instance decision did not accurately reflect Bermuda law.“In reversing the first instance decision, the New York Court of Appeal found that as a matter of Bermuda law Walsh’s breach of duty, if ratifiable at all, could only be ratified by Tyco’s shareholders, not its board of directors.”She added: “The Appellate Court further noted that Walsh was not able to point to a single case in which a court has upheld a board of directors’ retroactive ratification of a director’s breach of fiduciary duties under Bermuda law.“It is super that ABIC decided to support the jurisdiction so positively by taking the step of filing an amicus brief and this result is good for Bermuda.”An amicus brief is a document filed by someone not directly related to a legal case but with sufficient interest in it.ABIC executive director Richard Winchell gave the following statement yesterday: “ABIC were naturally concerned with the initial NY decision which did not give either an accurate or fair picture of Bermuda law on such issues.“We thought it sufficiently important to our members and Bermuda’s reputation as a preferred domicile that we take the step of filing an amicus brief in support of the appeal.“We are very pleased that the first instance decision has been overturned on appeal and this is an excellent result for the jurisdiction.”