The U.K. Financial Services and Markets Act 2023

The U.K. government has published its much-anticipated proposals for regulating the cryptoasset industry. These proposals, currently in the form of a consultation, will see many (but not all) cryptoasset-related activities being brought within the regulatory perimeter for financial services in the U.K.

On 30 July 2020, the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (IRDA) came into operation. The IRDA is an omnibus legislation housing all of Singapore’s insolvency and restructuring laws in one single piece of legislation.

The general framework of the IRDA has been discussed in the first article in our series of articles covering the various aspects of IRDA and can be found here.

On 30 July 2020, the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (IRDA) came into operation. The IRDA is an omnibus legislation housing all of Singapore’s insolvency and restructuring laws in one single piece of legislation.

The general framework of the IRDA has been discussed in the first article in our series of articles covering the various aspects of IRDA and can be found here.

On 30 July 2020, the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (IRDA) came into operation. The IRDA is an omnibus legislation housing all of Singapore’s insolvency and restructuring laws in one single piece of legislation.

The general framework of the IRDA has been discussed in the first article in our series of articles covering the various aspects of IRDA and can be found here.

The Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Bill was passed in the Parliament on 1 October 2018 and assented to by the President on 31 October 2018. Today, i.e. 30 July 2020, the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (IRDA) will finally come into effect. In this article, which is the first of five in a series of articles covering various aspects of IRDA, we will provide an overview of its main features.

History of Singapore’s insolvency regime

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in obtaining third-party funding to commence legal proceedings. The insolvency sector in particular has seen an increase in applications to court for approval of third-party funding agreements. In this article, we discuss how an insolvent entity may seek approval from the court for third-party funding to pursue legitimate claims.

Third-party funding an important resource for insolvent companies

Introduction

The concept of winding up does not exclusively apply to insolvent companies. Solvent companies can also be wound up, on the initiation of the company’s directors and shareholders (for example, as part of a corporate reconstruction or to close down non-operating or redundant entities). 

An overview of the two key procedures to effect the dissolution of a solvent Australian company, being Members’ Voluntary Liquidation and Deregistration, is set out below. 

In brief

Even with the fiscal stimulus and other measures taken by the Federal and State governments in Australia, corporate insolvencies are likely to increase in coming months.

Under Australia's insolvency regimes, a distressed company may be subject to voluntary administration, creditor's voluntary winding up or court ordered winding up (collectively, an external administration). Each of these processes raises different issues for the commencement and continuation of court and arbitration proceedings.

In summary

In our previous alert we discussed how Justice Markovic in the Federal Court of Australia had granted the administrators of retailer Colette Group relief from personal liability for rent in respect of 93 stores.