As settlement in relation to Ukraine’s successful sovereign exchange offers is expected today, we explain why this sovereign deal is groundbreaking.

Background: The Exchange Offers

On 22 September 2015, Ukraine launched Exchange Offers in relation to the following (Old Notes):

Insolvency Statistics

2014 was the first year in which the number of insolvency proceedings filed by Spanish companies fell each month since 2004, the year when the last bankruptcy reforms were enacted. Last year, a total of 6,508 insolvency proceedings were initiated in Spain, a reduction of 26.2% when compared to 2013, which was a record year when 8,823 cases were filed.  As a result, in 2014, the streak of consecutive years of increase in the number of insolvency filings ended.

The Royal Decree-Law 1/2015 dated February 27, 2015 (the “RDL”) seeks to implement urgent measures to, among other things, reduce individual debtors’ financial burden.

The facts are as follows: an insolvency creditor challenged the decision of the administrator in bankruptcy of a company about not recognizing its credit. The credit derived from a guarantee granted to secure a promissory note from a company belonging to the group of the insolvent company.

Speed Read

On Monday 17 November 2014, Weil held its inaugural European Distressed Investor Conference at The Dorchester in London. A summary of the key discussion points follows.

Panel A:

In Europe each year there are an estimated 200,000 corporate insolvencies. More than half of the companies set up do not survive their first five years of trading and more than 1.7 million jobs are lost every year as a result. One in five of those companies will have international operations that cross national borders.

The European Union (EU) has sought to introduce an element of harmonization across its Member States, to facilitate the effective operation of cross-border insolvencies.

The question of which law is applicable to the insolvency of a party in an international commercial arbitration is a topical issue, particularly in the current financial crisis.Whether it be a desire to initiate arbitration; an arbitration that is already underway or where an award is to be enforced, the situation may arise where one party is, or will be, declared insolvent.