Around the globe, our lawyers are receiving a large number of enquiries about mitigating the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) on companies’ business operations and finances. Governments in several countries have reacted quickly to try to mitigate COVID-19’s impact by changing or amending their insolvency laws. This memorandum is an overview of the key changes in restructuring and insolvency laws that select countries have undertaken in response to the COVID-19 pa
In September 2014, in response to the Argentinian and Greek debt crises, both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations General Assembly (UN) published their proposals for making the restructuring of sovereign debt a more orderly process. The IMF’s focus is on firming up the contractual framework of sovereign bond documentation, while the UN’s focus is on establishing a legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring.
This past Saturday, October 11, 2014, marked an important day in the too-big-too-fail regulatory and industry initiative. The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) announced on Saturday that 18 major global banks (G-18) have agreed to sign a new ISDA Resolution Stay Protocol, developed in coordination with the Financial Stability Board, to support cross-border resolution and reduce systemic risk.
The eyes of the financial world were on the U.S. during 2013. The view was dismaying and encouraging in roughly equal parts. The U.S. rang in the new year with a post-last-minute deal to avoid the Fiscal Cliff that kicked negotiations over "sequestration"—$110 billion in across-the-board cuts to military and domestic spending—two months down the road, but raised income taxes (on the wealthiest Americans) for the first time in two decades.
Recent Developments
Recent Developments
This article was first published in Digital Asset.
“Immutable” is a term that is frequently used when people talk about blockchain and the benefit of using this technology for record-keeping.
Consider this situation: a dispute has arisen between two parties in relation to an agreement which is subject to an arbitration clause. Separately, a winding up application has been made against one of the parties to the arbitration in the jurisdiction in which it is incorporated. An arbitral award is obtained against the potentially insolvent company. That company has assets in Hong Kong, against which the creditor is now seeking to enforce their rights.
International guidelines on cross-border insolvency matters have recently been adopted by the BVI courts. The Judicial Insolvency Network guidelines – drafted in 2016 by ten insolvency judges from international jurisdictions, including a BVI Commercial Court Judge – aim to create co-operation and communication between courts on cross-jurisdiction proceedings, and to minimise the time and expense involved in litigation.
Reports last week of the significant increase in corporate insolvencies and voluntary liquidations in England and Wales for Q2 demonstrate the combined impact of government COVID-19 support being withdrawn, soaring energy and fuel costs, and weakening demand – and are being reflected in the nature of the instructions coming into our global jurisdictions from distressed companies across the globe.