This note sets out the top ten issues for boards of companies and businesses facing the challenge of the Covid-19 crisis. Companies may have other considerations but we hope that these will go some way towards addressing the key points to bear in mind in this crisis. As such, they represent a snapshot of the current state of the law and will need to be checked to reflect any changes that may come into effect.

Statutory duties

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court, in Merit Management Group, LP v. FTI Consulting, Inc., Case No. 16-784, ruled that the “securities safe harbor” under section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 101-1532, does not shield transferees from liability simply because a particular transaction was routed through a financial intermediary—so-called “conduit transactions.”