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Hong Kong Court of First Instance follows the Guy Lam approach notwithstanding the recent English Privy Council's decision in Sian Participation

We recently blogged (here) about the Privy Council decision of Sian Participation Corporation (In Liquidation) v Halimeda InternationalLtd [2024] UKPC 16 (

Hong Kong, Arbitration & ADR, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, Liquidation
Collective Redundancies on Insolvency: Irish Employee Rights Bolstered

The Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2023 (Collective Redundancies AmendmentAct) came into operation on 1 July 2024.

Ireland, Employment & Labor, Insolvency & Restructuring, William Fry, Insolvency
Additional Rights to Information for Employees of Insolvent Companies

The Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2023 (Act) came into effect on 1 July 2024.

Ireland, Employment & Labor, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, William Fry, Insolvency
Changes to the Realisation of Assets of Companies in Liquidation

The Employment (Collective Redundancies and Miscellaneous Provisions) and Companies (Amendment) Act 2024 (Act) has been signed into law but awaits a commencement order to bring it into operation.

In summary, the Act amends the Companies Act 2014 (Companies Act) by modifying the attribution test for related companies to contribute to the debts of the company being wound up, broadening the operative time for unfair preferences, and varying the test for reckless trading.

1. Related company contribution

Ireland, Company & Commercial, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, William Fry, Liquidation
Navigating the crossroads between arbitration and insolvency proceedings: the Hong Kong Court of Appeal applies Guy Lam principles in a winding up case involving an arbitration clause

Can a creditor obtain a winding up order against a debtor company if the underlying dispute over the debt is subject to an arbitration agreement between the parties?

Hong Kong, Arbitration & ADR, Insolvency & Restructuring, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
What is the effect of Guy Lam on winding up petitions involving an arbitration clause? A third voice

Where a winding up petition is based on a debt arising from a contract with a non-Hong Kong exclusive jurisdiction clause, the court will tend to dismiss or stay the winding up petition in favour of the parties’ agreed forum unless there are strong countervailing factors.

Hong Kong, Arbitration & ADR, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
When informal workouts don’t work out: English High Court rules bank that lent support to restructuring did not dishonestly assist in putting assets beyond creditors’ reach

In the current economic climate, more and more companies are getting into financial difficulties, informal workouts by debtor companies, with support from certain creditors, seem to be increasingly common.

United Kingdom, Banking, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP
Sixth Circuit: Equitable Mootness Does Not Bar an Appeal in a Chapter 7 Case

The court-fashioned doctrine of "equitable mootness" has frequently been applied to bar appeals of bankruptcy court orders under circumstances where reversal or modification of an order could jeopardize, for example, the implementation of a negotiated chapter 11 plan or related agreements and upset the expectations of third parties who have relied on the order.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Jones Day, Supreme Court of the United States, Sixth Circuit
English High Court gives guidance on the so-called creditor duty where a company faces solvency-threatening claim

When a company is in the so-called “twilight zone” approaching insolvency, it is well-established that the directors’ fiduciary duties require them to take into account interest of creditors (the so-called “creditor duty”).

Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Company & Commercial, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, High Court of Justice (England & Wales)
Keeping the door open: Hong Kong Court reaffirms commitment to mutual recognition of insolvency proceedings with Mainland China

Two recent cases, Re Guangdong Overseas Construction Corporation [2023] HKCFI 1340 (the “GOCC Case“) and Re Trinity International Brands Limited [2023] HKCFI 1581 (the “Trinity Case“), reaffirm

China, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP