Immediately following the results of the UK referendum on exiting the EU in June 2016, we wrote about the potential impact of Brexit on cross-border restructuring and insolvency work. As we identified then, the key issue in this area is the potentially significant implications of losing the reciprocal effect of the EU Regulation on insolvency proceedings and the Brussels Regulation (recast). In this article we focus on the impact of the loss of recognition under the Insolvency Regulation.

On 18 December 2018 the English Court of Appeal held in the case of OJSC International Bank of Azerbaijan that the rule in Gibbs is still a fundamental tenet of English insolvency law and not to be sidestepped by the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations.

Facts

The facts in summary are these:

English law restructuring and insolvency tools are used to implement financial restructurings and the external administration of foreign companies. The attractiveness of the English tools and legal system is highlighted by the prevalence of companies incorporated abroad, especially companies incorporated in the EU, which avail themselves of those tools. English law in this area is impacted by much European law.

Over the Bank holiday weekend, the UK government announced that it intends to introduce new legislation to implement certain measures (detailed below) as soon as parliamentary time permits.

EU (Withdrawal) Bill may be passed by UK Parliament. Its purpose is to repeal the European Communities Act 1972 and, so far as possible, import EU law that would otherwise fall away into UK law

The Construction (Retention Deposit Schemes) Bill is expected to have its second reading debate

MAY 23, 2018/20 FINANCIAL REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS FOCUS Proxima Nova A ExCn 35pt In this week’s newsletter, we provide a snapshot of the principal U.S., European and global financial regulatory developments of interest to banks, investment firms, broker-dealers, market infrastructure providers, asset managers and corporates. Click here if you wish to access our Financial Regulatory Developments website. IN THIS ISSUE AML/CTF, Sanctions and Insider Trading ..............................................................................................................

Financial Regulation Weekly Bulletin 22 February 2018 / Issue 950 Major UK and European regulatory developments of interest to banks, insurers and reinsurers, asset managers and other market participants Selected Headlines General FinTech innovation – FCA and CFTC sign cooperation arrangement 1.1 Using technology to achieve smarter regulatory reporting – FCA launches call for input 1.2 Brexit Implementation period – DExEU publishes draft text for discussion 5.1 The impact of Brexit on wholesale financial services contracts – AFME publishes FAQs 6.1 Banking and Finance Implications of FinTec

INSOL Europe attended the 52nd session of Working Group V (Insolvency law) held in Vienna from 18 to 22 December 2018 in its capacity as an invited international non-governmental organisation (NGO) with observer status. Other observers included, inter alia, World Bank, European Investment Bank, European Banking Federation, the American Bar Association, the International Bar Association, INSOL International, International Insolvency Institute, European Law Institute.

PRA updates remuneration policy statement for PRA category 1 and 2 firm • PRA publishes CP24/17: Solvency II: internal models - modelling of the matching adjustment • PRA publishes CP23/17: Financial management and planning by insurers • Wholesale insurance brokers market study launched by the FCA • The FCA's future approach to consumers • PRA publishes CP22/17: Solvency II: Supervisory approval for the volatility adjustment • FCA publishes PS17/24: Handbook changes to reflect the new regulatory framework for insurance-linked securities - feedback to CP16/34 and CP17/3 and near-final rules

Business Finance and Restructuring What will 2018 hold? Horizon scanning for 2018 Legal Outlook Legislative changes Reform of English corporate insolvency framework The Insolvency Service has yet to react to responses to its consultation in mid-2016 on significant reforms designed to improve the restructuring tools available to companies.1 We had expected the government to push this forward in 2017, but the reforms appear to have stalled and the issue was sadly missing from the Queen’s Speech.