Fewer Insolvencies for More Opportunities

At the end of 2021, corporate bankruptcies (for most company sizes and in most sectors) were at their lowest level compared to the pre-COVID-19 figures from 2019, with a 50% drop in insolvency proceedings and a 10% decrease in pre-insolvency situations. This was largely due to the temporary impact of government emergency measures and support, including:

In brief

On 14 May 2021, the Supreme People's Court of the PRC (SPC) and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)  signed a Record of Meeting setting out a framework to facilitate the mutual recognition of and assistance to insolvency proceedings between Mainland China and Hong Kong ("Arrangement"). The Record of Meeting is supplemented by the SPC's Opinion and the HKSAR Government's Practical Guide, which together provide the "Framework". 

In brief

On 14 May 2021, the Supreme People's Court of the PRC (SPC) and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)  signed a Record of Meeting setting out a framework to facilitate the mutual recognition of and assistance to insolvency proceedings between Mainland China and Hong Kong ("Arrangement"). The Record of Meeting is supplemented by the SPC's Opinion and the HKSAR Government's Practical Guide, which together provide the "Framework". 

Not for the first time in the current pandemic crisis, the UK government has found itself playing catch up with other countries. Over the weekend the UK followed the lead of governments in Germany and Australia by announcing plans to introduce a temporary relaxation of the existing wrongful trading regime for company directors. It has also taken the opportunity to revive the previous government's plans to add to the existing UK insolvency law "toolkit" by introducing a new debtor-friendly restructuring law.

Wrongful trading