Since our last issue, updated and additional national insolvency statistics have been published on the INSOL Europe website. The compilation of this kind of data is indeed crucial on a number of specific aspects. Statistics as a means of measuring the efficiency of national insolvency frameworks From a national point of view, insolvency statistics are generally used as a tool to show the country’s good social and economic health.

In a judgment handed down on July 12, 2017, the Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that survivor benefits for same sex partners cannot be restricted to those calculated only on the basis of pensionable service after 5 December 2005 (the date when the Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force). Click here for more..

Welcome to the sixth online edition of Global Asset Management Quarterly. This publication highlights key developments that will be of interest to and affect our asset management clients, including market trends and developments in tax and buy-side regulation globally. We hope that you will find this quarter’s edition insightful and would welcome the opportunity to discuss any aspect with you in greater detail.

Though affecting enterprises of all sizes, a particular concern is paid in the text to the situation of small- and medium-enterprises, which constitute the lifeblood of European commerce. In the wake of the 2014 Recommendation, which this text is designed to boost, attention will undoubtedly now be paid to how the various Member States respond to the call for the institution of new frameworks or the overhaul of existing legislation so as to improve the chances of businesses in financial difficulties.

A focal point of the reform of the European Insolvency Regulation (EIR) is the revision of the provisions regarding secondary insolvency proceedings. As before, these proceedings pursue two objectives, i.e. protecting creditors in this country and supporting the main insolvency proceedings. However, the body issuing the reform regulation took account of practical experiences when dealing with the European Insolvency Regulation (2000/1346) and the criticism made of these proceedings in many cases.

According to the French ECommerce Professional Federation (FEVAL), quoted by the “Journal du net”, e-commerce websites in France generated a turnover of 72 billion euros in 2016. A figure that is constantly increasing. While it is a great source of wealth and value, this economy is also creating new risks for companies.

In this issue, we feature a number of articles on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Lawyers from across our global firm review various developments in this area, including requests for reconsideration in ICSID and UNCITRAL arbitration, whether the doctrine of precedent could or should apply in investment arbitration and the trends in investor-state disputes that can be identified from recent ICSID statistics.

Today the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that may decide whether post-patent grant review procedures, such as inter partes review (IPR), are constitutional (Oil States Energy Services LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group LLC, case number 16-712, before the U.S. Supreme Court.). IPR is a proceeding conducted in front of the USPTO in which a challenger can invalidate an issued U.S. patent. Oil States Energy Services filed its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court after having one of its patents invalidated in an IPR. The issue in the case is whether U.S.

The one-day international conference titled ‘Designing pre-insolvency proceedings of the future’ took place in Amsterdam on 27 January 2017. The conference was organised by RESOR and the Business & Law Research Centre of Radboud University in cooperation with INSOL Europe and the European Commission. The conference started with an overview of the European Commission’s draft proposal on preventive restructuring frameworks, second chance and measures to increase the efficiency of restructuring, insolvency and discharge procedures published on 22 November 2016 (hereafter‘draft proposal’).

The recast of the European Insolvency Regulation (REGULATION (EU) 2015/848 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 May 2015 on insolvency proceedings) entered into force on 26 June 2015 and will apply to proceedings that are opened from 26 June 2017. Click here for more.