USA: mediation in corporate insolvency is rising. In the world of rescue and insolvency a mediator is not a stranger. In the USA mediation is frequently used in insolvency procedures, including Chapter 11 cases.1 In 2015, for complex multi-party restructurings it has been contended that in the USA ‘... the use of mediation to reach consensual plans of reorganisation, while not standard protocol in cases, has become common and is no longer controversial’.

The European Commission has the intention to issue a legislative initiative during 2016 on insolvency reform with the purpose to harmonise the insolvency regimes of the Member States. The task is huge. It would probably make sense to have the insolvency regimes harmonised in several stages. Not everything or every situation in an insolvency regime has the same importance and effects.

Energy infrastructure transactions, ranging from project financing to the acquisition of energy assets, are typically easily bankable, as evidenced by the sheer number of lenders piling in to the market and the downward pressure on margins. Energy infrastructure in Europe is attracting substantial interest not only from traditional banks, but also from institutional investors such as insurance and pensions funds, dedicated infrastructure funds and sovereign wealth funds on a global scale.

Over the last few years, the potential to use distributed ledgers and blockchain technology has seen increasing interest from banks and other financial institutions. From investments in blockchain start-up companies and consortiums to the establishment of innovation labs and the trial use of blockchain technology, banks are alive to the technology’s potential to cut costs and streamline processes in a wide range of areas.

In March 2016, the European Investment Plan Portal (EIPP) is set to go live. The EIPP is the creation of the European Commission (EC) and European Investment Bank (EIB). It is a key element of the second stage of the Investment Plan for Europe. Read more. (Subscription required.)

It is often cited that the absence of international cooperation in respect of insolvency matters can lead to the frustration of office holder objectives to deal with assets effectively, resulting in the concealing or removal of assets and a reduced return to creditors or, as the case may be, a reduced chance of rescuing a failing business.

In the Autumn 2015 I edition of eurofenix1 we introduced the subject and described the present situation as to the considerations to be made by a court when asked to open secondary proceedings. This is important since courts often lack experience in international insolvency proceedings and needlessly opened secondary proceedings cost extra money, take extra time and may result in less efficient solutions. The Autumn article concluded with a list of observations to be made by a court when called to open secondary proceedings.

The renewable energy storage industry may still be in its infancy, but it holds immense potential – some estimates suggest that this will be a US$50 billion global industry by 2020. Across our global network, our energy lawyers are seeing more and more interest in energy storage projects with an increasingly diverse range of participants. Recent developments suggest that although e-storage costs will have to drop substantially to enable large scale implementation around the world, various technologies and applications are already economically viable and operational in various jurisdictions.

Providing financing to an owner of an environmentally contaminated site can be a risky endeavour. In recognition of these risks, and to ensure that individuals and businesses facing environmental issues have access to financing to address contaminations, the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) includes certain protections for secured creditors. Read more.

Essential Pensions News covers the latest pensions developments each month in an “at a glance” format. More detail is available by following the link under each summary. Reminder: act now to certify contingent assets for 2016/17 PPF levy purposes Of interest to all schemes providing DB benefits are the various deadlines, which are set out in detail below, for submitting data and documents to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) for calculation of insolvency scores used to calculate the PPF risk-based levy.