This quarter has seen a wave of legislative and regulatory reform on the way. We review some of the more significant developments.

Insolvency exemption to the Jackson reforms extended indefinitely

In the latest decision on COMI (Northsea Base Investment Limited & ors [2015] EWHC 121 (Ch)), the English Court had to determine the centre of main interest for a  group of companies registered in Cyprus, but where the operations of the companies were managed by a shipping agent in London.

Alert The Impending First Revision to the EU Insolvency Regulation: An Update 16 December 2014 The latest draft of the First Revision published on 20 Nov. 2014 indicates measured but extensive amendments to the EU Insolvency Regulation (‘EIR’). The most significant is the EU policy shift evidenced by the proposal to extend the EIR’s application from its currently narrow and primarily liquidation-based proceedings to a broader range of measures that are focused on rescue and that have recently been implemented in various jurisdictions.

On January 5, 2015, HM Treasury published the Bank Recovery and Resolution Order 2014 (“BRRO”) and the Banks and Building Societies (Depositor Preference and Priorities) Order 2014 (“BBSO”). The Banking Act 2009 (Restriction of Special Bail-in Provision, etc.) Order 2014 and the Banking Act 2009 (Mandatory Compensation Arrangements following Bail-in)  Regulations 2014 were published in December 2014.

1. What is the risk if a counter-party is located in an exiting member state?

In the Q1 2014 edition of Global Insight, we discussed the progress already made in respect of the Proposed Amendments to the EC Insolvency Regulation as of April 2014. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have now considered the Commission’s proposed amendments.

In this article we will continue to focus on the progress made regarding:

On 27 July 2014, the Regulation (UE) n.º 655/2014, of the European Parliament and of  the Council (the “Regulation”), establishing a European Account Preservation Order procedure to facilitate cross-border debt recovery in civil and commercial matters was  published.

Key points

• Where main proceedings have been opened in one member state, secondary proceedings may be opened in another member state where the debtor has an establishment. The effects of the secondary proceedings shall be restricted to the assets in that territory.  
• Local law and court discretion may apply to the opening of secondary proceedings and may be exercised, but these should not be discriminatory.

The Facts

I. Medio ambiente En materia medioambiental destacamos la aprobación de  las siguientes normas en estos últimos meses: 1. La Ley 11/2014, de 3 de julio, por la que se  modifica la Ley 26/2007, de 23 de octubre, de  Responsabilidad Medioambiental. Tiene por objeto  adaptar la actual normativa en materia de responsabilidad  ambiental para adecuarla a lo regulado por la  Directiva 2013/30/UE, del Parlamento Europeo y  del Consejo, de 12 de junio del 2013.

In the Schmid case the European Court of Justice ruled on the issue of jurisdiction of the Courts of a Member State ofthe EU where an insolvency procedure was commenced, whose receiver started a claw-back action against a defendantdomiciled in a non-Member State

The Case