On Friday 10 December Mr Justice Briggs ("Briggs J") handed down judgment in the two applications for directions made by the two sets of administrators appointed by the UK court in the Nortel and Lehman insolvencies. Hogan Lovells act for the Pension Protection Fund and the Trustees of the Nortel Networks UK Pension scheme in this case.

On 11 November 2010, the European Parliament – after extensive discussions – adopted the draft directive on managers of alternative investment funds. Although particularly aimed at regulating hedge funds and private equity funds, the directive has a much broader scope, providing for far-reaching changes in the supervision of all investment institutions other than UCITS. The directive, which is expected to come into force early next year, will bring about major changes in the supervisory regime for investment institutions.

This week, Europe's leaders will convene in Brussels to debate the future of the common currency. Five eminent economists -- Barry Eichengreen, Hans-Werner Sinn, Martin Feldstein Pedro Solbes and Steve H. Hanke -- weigh in on where the euro goes from here, The Wall Street Journal reported in a compendium. Fix the Banks, Fix the Currency By Barry Eichengreen For the euro to grow into a happy and healthy adult, many things must happen. Most importantly, Europe needs to fix its banking system.

Despite being updated in 1988, the Bankruptcy Process in Ireland remains an archaic relying heavily on the thought process of the Bankruptcy Acts dating from colonial times, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported in a commentary. With no automatic discharge and high barriers to overcome before discharge can be sought, the punitive nature of our bankruptcy laws meant that a man convicted of murder could complete his sentence and be released into society before a man made bankrupt on the same day could be allowed to obtain credit or leave the state without permission.

Standard & Poor's issued an update (the "Update") last week indicating that it could issue a de-linked, asset-based credit rating for securities issued in a securitization sponsored by an insured depository institution ("Bank") that qualifies as a sale under GAAP, even if the transaction fails to comply with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's new securitization safe harbor rule (the "Rule").

Until recently, Greece was one of only a few European jurisdictions to have no insolvency proceedings for non-merchants. However, the need for such protection became apparent. New Law 3,869/2010 sets down debt settlement and debt cancellation procedures for individuals who are not merchants. Such persons may use such procedures if they are permanently unable to meet their financial obligations. http://www.internationallawoffice.com/?i=1084378&l=7EQKVZM

The legislation to put in place a special resolution regime for banks and give the governor of the Central Bank the power to intervene in their affairs is to be published today, the Irish Times reported.