The Royal Court has recently handed down the final decision in the matter of Eagle Holdings Limited (in compulsory liquidation).[1] In this decision, the Royal Court of Guernsey provided guidance and assistance to the joint liquidators regarding a distribution of surplus funds.
Introduction
Meetings of creditors and shareholders
Reporting delinquent officers
Declaration of solvency
Disclaiming onerous property
Comment
Historically, Guernsey's insolvency law had limited operational provisions (compared to English law) and was largely developed by a bespoke and flexible application of common and customary law principles by the Royal Court. The old regime will now be updated and revised by the Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 (Insolvency) (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 (Ordinance) which was passed on 15 January 2020. Although it does not yet have force of law it is anticipated to become law in the latter part of this year.
As previewed in our prior post, Poland’s simplified restructuring proceeding (uproszczone postępowanie restrukturyzacyjne) is now in effect. The enabling legislation – with only minor changes from the description in our prior post affecting such restructurings – was finally adopted on 19 June 2020, signed into law on 23 June 2020 and took effect the same day.
Poland’s Parliament (the Sejm, the lower House of Parliament) is close to passage of an extraordinary debtor restructuring relief law as part of its fourth COVID-19 crisis legislation.
The measure, referred to as Shield Law 4.0 (Tarcza 4.0) would:
The coronavirus pandemic poses new risks and challenges for business at a scale unknown before. In order to assist businesses, the Polish government has announced that a PLN 212 bn ($53bn) stimulus package will be put in place. For a summary see our previous post. Start up of the aid package will take time, and the shape of further aid to come is as yet unknown.
The recognition of the powers of an English trustee in bankruptcy in Guernsey is generally pursued either by way of a letter of request issued by the foreign court pursuant to section 426 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (Insolvency Act) or by way of an application via the common or customary law.
The recent decision from the Guernsey Royal Court in DM Property Holdings (Guernsey) Limited (in Liquidation)(1) is of fundamental importance to Guernsey insolvency practitioners as it provides cautionary guidance on the practical implications of Practice Direction 3/2015.
Poland’s Parliament has enacted a new law creating a Borrowers’ Support Fund to help homeowners with mortgages that are underwater. Official statistics by mortgage amount show that 24.3% of mortgages, totaling PLN 84.1 billion (approx. USD 22.7 billion) exceed the value of the borrowers’ homes, affecting 236,400 borrowers.