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New UAE Bankruptcy Law - Key Features You Need to Know

On 31 October 2023, Federal Law No. 51 of 2023 Promulgating the Financial and Bankruptcy Law (the Bankruptcy Law) was published in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Official Gazette, repealing the prior federal law on bankruptcy (Federal Law No. 9 of 2016, the Prior Law) and significantly developing the bankruptcy regime in the UAE.

United Arab Emirates, Insolvency & Restructuring, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Sovereign Debt Restructuring. Stay of Proceedings. District court grants stay of proceedings for breach of contract claim against Sri Lanka pending restructuring negotiations with bilateral and private commercial creditors.

Hamilton Reserve Bank Ltd. v. Sri Lanka, No. 22-cv-5199 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 1, 2023) [click for opinion]

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Baker McKenzie
Enforcement and reciprocity: flexibility in the UK courts

Are the courts of England and Wales establishing themselves as a flexible forum for cross-border enforceability? Here, we consider this question in light of two recent High Court decisions: Re Silverpail Dairy (Ireland) Unlimited Co. [2023] EWHC 895 (Ch) (Silverpail) and Invest Bank PSC v El-Husseini & Ors [2023] EWHC 2302 (Comm) (Invest Bank).

United Kingdom, Banking, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Public, Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP
BlockFi Unsecured Creditors Seek to Liquidate the Company and End the “Extortion”

On June 27, 2023, the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (the “Committee”) in the BlockFi Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case filed an Objection to the company’s Plan and essentially requested that the company be liquidated. The Official Committee is made up largely of 600,000 individual customers of BlockFi.

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Baker McKenzie, FTX
SEC Agrees to Let Company Investors be Paid First in BlockFi Bankruptcy

BlockFi is a wealth management and trading firm for cryptocurrency holders that first commenced operations in 2017. In July 2021, we wrote about BlockFi’s bumpy road to going public, even though its valuation had just hit $5 billion.

USA, Capital Markets, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Baker McKenzie, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, FTX
Interest Rates. Currency of Judgment. New York state court holds that interest rate set in bankruptcy proceeding controls over contractual interest rate and that New York law requires a New York judgment be rendered in U.S. dollars.

Lehman Bros. Int'l (Europe) (In Admin.) v. AG Fin. Prod., Inc., No. 653284/2011 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. County May 17, 2023) [click for opinion]

USA, Derivatives, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Baker McKenzie, International Swaps and Derivatives Association
Arbitration. Confirmation of Award. District court confirms arbitration award of $2 million in fees and costs to prevailing party and refuses sanctions against petitioner who sought to vacate the award.

Cognac Ferrand S.A.S. v. Mystique Brands LLC, No. 20 Civ. 5933 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 31, 2021) [click for opinion]

USA, Arbitration & ADR, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Baker McKenzie, US District Court for the Southern District of New York
Bankruptcy. Discovery. Sanctions. Bankruptcy court sanctions attorney for failing to make reasonable efforts to obtain discovery materials held outside the U.S. by incarcerated debtor's agents and attorneys.

In re Markus, 607 B.R. 379 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2019) [click for opinion]  

USA, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Baker McKenzie, Bankruptcy, Debtor, Title 11 of the US Code, United States bankruptcy court
Dutch Supreme Court confirms Yukos bankruptcy cannot be recognised in the Netherlands

The Dutch Supreme Court has confirmed the decision of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, which found that the bankruptcy of the Russian based oil company, Yukos, could not be recognised in the Netherlands because it violates Dutch public policy.

Netherlands, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Ashfords LLP
China Fishery Group Limited [2019] HKCFI 174

The High Court of Hong Kong refused to allow a Chapter 11 Trustee to disclose a Decision from Hong Kong winding up proceedings in the US bankruptcy court. The US proceedings were commenced to prevent a creditor from taking action following a breach of undertakings given to the Hong Kong court in circumstances where the company had no jurisdictional connection with the US.

Hong Kong, Insolvency & Restructuring, Litigation, Ashfords LLP, HSBC