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Jurisdiction to hear a case related to a temporary layoff procedure due to force majeure caused by COVID-19 lies with labor courts not the insolvency judge

Decision by León Commercial Court, April 1, 2020

In this study dated on December 3, 2019 the European Commission analyzes the legal frameworks on insolvency and defaults in the various member states; specifically, the various individual and collective loan enforcement systems –and their effectiveness for recovering non-performing loans (NPLs).

The Situation: In the past few weeks, due to the severe impact of the COVID-19 crisis on non-essential businesses forced to close and terminate employees after filing for chapter 11 protection, bankruptcy courts have been confronted with requests by debtors to temporarily suspend their bankruptcy cases using the courts' equitable powers and a seldom-used provision of the Bankruptcy Code: 11 U.S.C. § 305(a).

In This Issue:

U.S. Supreme Court: Creditors May Immediately Appeal Denials of Automatic-Stay Relief

In McKillen v. Wallace (In re Irish Bank Resolution Corp. Ltd.), 2019 WL 4740249 (D. Del. Sept. 27, 2019), the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware had an opportunity to consider, as an apparent matter of first impression, whether the U.S. common law "Barton Doctrine" applies extraterritorially. One of the issues considered by the district court on appeal was whether parties attempting to sue a foreign representative in a chapter 15 case must first obtain permission to sue from the foreign court that appointed the foreign representative.

On September 10, 2019, Madrid Commercial Court number 6 delivered a decision arguing that it was necessary to examine whether the prior notice under article 5 bis of the Insolvency Law stemmed from steps taken to prepare or perform serious and effective negotiations.

In In re O’Reilly, 598 B.R. 784 (Bankr. W.D. Pa. 2019), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania denied the petition of a foreign bankruptcy trustee for recognition under chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code of a debtor’s Bahamian bankruptcy case. Although the Bahamian bankruptcy was otherwise eligible for chapter 15 recognition, the U.S.

Final provision number three of the Trade Secrets Law, in force since March 13, 2019, authorized the government to approve a revised wording of the Insolvency Law within eight months. Under that authorization, on March 22 the Ministries of Justice and of Economy and Enterprise submitted a bill for the Revised Insolvency Law.

La Disposición Final Tercera de la Ley de Secretos Empresariales, en vigor desde el pasado 13 de marzo, habilitaba al Gobierno a aprobar un texto refundido de la Ley Concursal en el plazo de ocho meses. De acuerdo con dicha habilitación, los Ministerios de Justicia y Economía y Empresa presentaron el 22 de marzo un proyecto de Texto Refundido de la Ley Concursal.

El tribunal de un Estado miembro que conoce del procedimiento de insolvencia tiene competencia exclusiva para conocer de las acciones revocatorias ejercitadas dentro del mismo

Sentencia del Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea de 14 de noviembre de 2018