On 30 June 2022, the English court handed down judgment and made a winding-up order in respect of Galapagos S.A., marking an important milestone in an almost three-year cross-border insolvency battle involving the English, German and European courts.

The decision also provides helpful guidance on the application of the Recast European Insolvency Regulation post-Brexit, as well as the extent to which pre-Brexit jurisprudence should still be considered retained in, or relevant to, English law.

Galapagos: The Facts

In the groundbreaking recent decision in Re Samson Paper Company Limited (in Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation) [2021] HKCFI 2151 (“Samson”), the Hong Kong Companies Court (the “Hong Kong court”) has for the first time issued a letter of request to a court in mainland China under the new cross-border mutual recognition, assistance and cooperation arrangement between Hong Kong and mainland China (the “Mainland”) in relation to corporate insolvency and restructuring matters (the “Cooperation Arrangement”), which took effect on May 14, 2021.

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act (the “Act”) received Royal Assent on 25 June 2020 and is now in force. As anticipated in our client alert of 26 May 2020, the Act represents the most extensive changes in the insolvency landscape since the Enterprise Act came into force in 2003.

The provisions of the Act contain both:

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the “Bill”) was laid before Parliament on 20 May 2020 and represents the most extensive changes in the insolvency landscape since the Enterprise Act came into force in 2003. Many of the proposals were originally consulted on in 2016, but were not progressed in light of Brexit until the COVID-19 crisis led to an urgent need for rapid and responsive reforms. The Bill is expected to come into force in June at the earliest.

The provisions of the Bill contain both: