In an insolvency, the three heads of set-off (contractual, legal and equitable) each represent a powerful means of effectively jumping the queue and circumventing the ordinary priority scheme between a company's secured and unsecured creditors.

Cancellation of debt a key element of most restructurings generally triggers taxable income. The German tax authorities had issued an administrative decree (the "Tax Restructuring Decree" - Sanierungserlass), however, declaring that, upon the satisfaction of certain requirements and conditioned on forfeiture of any loss carry forwards, the cancellation of debt income ("CODI") would not be taxed.