Self-application

Basic principle

Insolvency Law

The German Federal government is preparing measures to suspend the requirement for companies to file for insolvency in cases where companies are suffering financial losses due to the current COVID-19 crisis. This suspension may apply through 30 September 2020. The German government aims to avoid insolvencies that may occur simply because the state's financial help may not arrive in time.

Important revisions to the insolvency legislation in the Qatar Financial Centre ("QFC") came into effect on 22 December 2013.

New Law on "Amendments to the Law on Insolvency (Bankruptcy) and Articles 17 and 223 of the Arbitrage Procedural Code with respect to establishment of special rules for bankruptcy of developers attracting money from participants in construction" was adopted on July 12, 2011 (the "Amendments"). Most of the Amendments were introduced as a special chapter No. 7 named "Bankruptcy of Developers" into the Federal law on Insolvency (Bankruptcy) No. 127-FZ as of 26 October 2002 (as amended) (the "Bankruptcy Law").

Intoduction

With the credit crunch impacting the Russian banking sector and Russian banks facing their gravest crisis since 1998 (as evidenced by Bank Globex freezing deposits), it is in our view timely to revisit the regulations affecting the insolvency of Russian credit organisations.

Background

Until recently Russian legislation was not familiar with the concept of close-out netting. Although there was no prohibition for market participants to enter into netting agreements, Russian courts would not enforce such agreements in case of bankruptcy. This led to the use of complex structures to avoid the negative consequences of the application of Russian law and was a strong argument in favor of using foreign entities and application of foreign law to derivative transactions.

Draft new insolvency law for the UAE - is a big clean-up of delinquent debtors on the way?

It has been widely reported that the new insolvency law in the UAE is substantially progressed, with the UAE Federal Cabinet expected to review it in the early part of this year.

In the first judgment under Singapore’s new ‘super priority’ DIP financing regime, the Singapore High Court declined to grant priority status to funds to be advanced to the Attilan Group.

The Singapore regime is the first to import US Chapter 11-style DIP priority funding mechanisms into a jurisdiction with primarily English-law based corporate law and insolvency regimes.

The judgment discusses how Singapore provisions align with established principles under US Bankruptcy Code provisions and case law.

Major law changes intended to make Singapore the region’s pre-eminent restructuring and insolvency hub have now come into effect.

On 22 May 2017, the Singapore Ministry of Finance issued a notice that sections 22 to 34, 40, 41, 43, 45, 49, 50, 53(3) and (6) and 54 (the Relevant Sections) of the Companies (Amendment) Act 2017 (the Amendment Act) would come into operation on 23 May 2017.

In Brief

For the first time, a court has adopted the ‘centre of main interest’ (COMI) as grounds at common law to recognise foreign insolvency proceedings.

The decision earlier this year by the High Court of Singapore (the Court) recognised a Japanese bankruptcy trustee appointed to companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI):