The shipping industry was recently in the headlines when on 31 August 2016 Hanjin Shipping Co filed for bankruptcy protection in the Seoul Central District Court. Hanjin was South Korea’s biggest container carrier and the seventh largest in the world.
Hong Kong’s well-established financial market, low taxation incentives, and laissez-faire policies have consistently earned the city the title of the World’s Freest Economy and the third easiest place to do business in. Yet, the city’s on-going social movements seem to be having an influence on its financials.
Hong Kong is known to be an international business hub, and also serves as a gateway to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which has over 65 countries participating in developing infrastructure and investment initiatives between East Asia and Europe.
High value transactions are commonplace and one way to protect the interests of Hong Kong businesses transacting with foreign companies is to seek a guarantee from the directors or shareholders of the foreign company.
The Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 (CAP 32) (the “Amendment Ordinance”) came into force on 13 February 2017. One of the key objectives of the Amendment Ordinance is to increase protection of creditors. Under the Amendment Ordinance, liquidators are given the avoidance power to set aside transactions at an undervalue and unfair preferences.
The main aim of the revision of the Hungarian Bankruptcy Law, effective September 2009, was to make the bankruptcy proceeding more attractive for creditors as well as debtors, to make clearing debt in the course of a bankrutpcy proceeding more effective and, with the increasing number of bankruptcy agreements, to decrease the number of liquidators.
The insolvency and bankruptcy regime in India has historically been fragmented, involving a number of regulations implemented by several regulatory authorities and adjudication forums. The introduction of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Insolvency Code) is a significant development aimed at a comprehensive, centralized regime and an efficient procedural framework.
The Insolvency Code is intended to integrate the regulatory framework provided under:
What is this all about?
India is proposing a new insolvency and bankruptcy code. It’s all part of the “Make In India” campaign by Narendra Modi’s government who are trying to attract businesses to India.
Current law
It does not appear that there has been a single separate law for bankruptcy legislation in the country’s history. Currently / historically the following have been used for insolvency purposes:
This quick guide summarises the duties that directors of companies incorporated in Italy are subject to, and how those duties change when the company is insolvent or at risk of being insolvent.
It also gives an overview of the personal risk to directors when the company is in financial difficulty.
This note is intended as an overview and should not be relied on as legal advice. Should you require legal advice in relation to your specific circumstances, please contact the Restructuring & Insolvency team members whose contact details are at the end of this note.
A ruling by the Supreme Court in Spain says Spanish banks that held deposits for property that was never built are to be held to account. Around 100,000 people in the UK are thought to have paid big sums towards such properties in Spain but these were lost when several developers went bust in the wake of 2008’s financial crisis. Estimates for how much British buyers could claim are around £4bn.
Judgment of the Supreme Court, Chamber One, Number 134/2016, 04 March