There is more trouble for the British High Street as Toys R Us and Maplins have both entered Administration. Toys R Us' remaining stores are due to close once stock is sold as the Administrators have been unable to find a buyer. Maplins' stores remain open for now and the Administrators are still looking to secure a buyer, but so far have been unsuccessful. New Look has announced it will be closing 60 stores, and Carpetright has announced plans to close poorly performing stores.

The Knesset has aimed to update the law on insolvency by passing the Law of Insolvency and Economic Rehabilitation.

This has arisen as a result of the current insolvency laws being considered to be regulated under outdated legislation, being disorganised and having had a detrimental effect on debtors, creditors, and the economy. The incoming Law will take effect in 18 months' time and is designed to rectify the situation and provide the Israeli economy with modern legislation with respect to insolvency.

The Law has three primary objectives:

This week’s TGIF is the second of a two-part series considering Commonwealth v Byrnes [2018] VSCA 41, the Victorian Court of Appeal’s decision on appeal from last year’s Re Amerind decision about the insolvency of corporate trustees.

This week’s TGIF is the first of a two-part series considering Commonwealth v Byrnes [2018] VSCA 41, the Victorian Court of Appeal’s decision on appeal from last year’s Re Amerind decision about the insolvency of corporate trustees.

This first part looks closely at what the Court of Appeal did – and did not – decide in relation to how receivers and liquidators should deal with property recovered pursuant to an insolvent corporate trustee’s right of indemnity.

This week’s TGIF considers In the matter of SurfStitch Group Limited [2018] NSWSC 164, where the Court refused to allow administrators to value claims of class action group members at a nominal $1 for voting at the second creditors’ meeting.

What happened?

On 11 December 2017, the administrators of SurfStitch filed an application seeking orders:

Following the collapse of Monarch and Air Berlin last year, the International Air Transport Association ("IATA") has suggested that bankruptcy laws should be reviewed globally in order to allow a “reasonable timeframe” for airlines to continue operating after entering insolvency to allow more passengers to complete their journeys.

This week’s TGIF considers the Victorian Court of Appeal’s decision in Blakeley v CGU Insurance Ltd [2017] VSCA 378, which confirms the rights of third parties to seek direct access to proceeds of insurance.

The decision confirms that, in certain circumstances, third party creditors can commence proceedings against a defendant and also join the defendant’s insurers to those proceedings.

The Swiss government presented a draft bill in May 2017 which was approved by the Swiss Council of States in December 2017 with very few amendments. The revised law could be effective as from 1 January 2019 if the Swiss National Council approves the revision this year.

Key changes include:

Brexit plays a part in an application by the Joint Administrators of Nortel Networks UK Limited and others to extend the Administrators' terms of office as uncertainty lies over what, if any recognition will be given to the Administrators by the courts of the EU Member States after 29 March 2019.

The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands granted common law recognition and assistance to the foreign Liquidators of a Cayman Islands company post Rubin v Eurofinance and Singularis Holdings Limited v PwC.

In Re China Agrotech Holdings Limited Ltd (FSD 157 of 2017 (NSJ)), the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands ("Cayman Court") granted Liquidators appointed by the High Court of Hong Kong leave to present and consent to a scheme of arrangement on behalf of China Agrotech Limited (the "Company") based on a common law discretion.